IRISH BUSINESS AND EMPLOYERS' CONFEDERATION (IBEC)
| IRELAND |
| IRISH BUSINESS AND EMPLOYERS' CONFEDERATION
(IBEC) |
The Irish Business and Employers' Confederation was formed in early 1993 by a merger between the Federation of Irish Employers (FIE) and the Confederation of Irish Industry. For many years the FIE (FUE: Federated Union of Employers as it was originally called from its formation in 1941) has been the most significant of a number of employers' organisations, and the only one with a universal orientation and having industrial relations as its main concern. During the 1950s and 1960s over 20 employers' organisations were registered as having a negotiation licence; by 1982 this had declined to 16. By the early 1980s the member companies of FUE were estimated to employ about 50 per cent of the labour force, excluding the public sector, agriculture and the self-employed. This multiplicity of employers' organisations was always perceived as a problem, however, and as early as 1937 the predecessor of the FUE, the Federated Employers Limited, passed a resolution stating that "there is an imperative need for an employers' central authority (similar to the Trades Union Council) which will be kept informed of all demands and give advice to employers on whom demands have been made." Over the years there were a number of abortive attempts at forming an umbrella organisation. In the end, FIE (having dropped the 'Union' from its title in 1990) looked elsewhere for a partner and merged with the Confederation of Irish Industry, which was not an employers' organisation and which previously had no industrial relations function. The CII was an industry lobbying group, representing industry in matters other than employment and industrial relations, such as taxation, Government subsidies, foreign trade policy, industrial development. It had also been the other representative of the business community party to the Programme for National Recovery and the Programme for Economic and Social Progress . The united organisation, IBEC, is now the employer party to the new agreement, Programme for Competitiveness and Work .
IBEC as an organisation is politically neutral, and offers its services to all employers, whether unionised or not, whether nonprofit making or profit-oriented, and whether Irish or multinational. Its income is entirely derived from membership subscriptions. Within its industrial relations function it provides information to members via a monthly Bulletin and other publications, carries out surveys and also holds training courses on issues such as health and safety and employment equality. It also provides advice and assistance to members with industrial relations difficulties: representing companies at hearings of the Labour Court, Labour Relations Commission, or Employment Appeals Tribunal , taking part in union/management negotiations, consulting with trade unions and so on. Advice on aspects of employment and industrial relations legislation is also available.
Previously the FIE and FUE always exercised significant influence on Government pay policy. It was highly critical of the National Understandings , in particular the second one in 1980 - among other things, the manner in which the then Taoiseach, Charles Haughey, exerted pressure on them to accept the agreement. When talks on a third National Understanding broke down towards the end of 1981, FUE made little attempt to rescue the situation, and began to engage in more direct political lobbying, in particular over what was seen as the burden on employers of pay-related social insurance and various other employment levies. At present, however, IBEC appears committed to the current phase of national agreements in pay and other employment issues.
Please note: the European industrial relations glossaries were compiled between 1991 and 2003 and are not updated. For current material see the European industrial relations dictionary.