Ibec says minimum wage hike and other Government moves adding €4bn a year to business costs

Mr Reidy, head of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (Ictu), told an Oireachtas committee yesterday that the law should change to encourage what is known as “collective bargaining” via independent trade unions, as provided for under a new EU directive.

The EU directive on adequate minimum wages has to be in place by November this year, but business group Ibec says no new legislation is required to comply with it.

“The Irish state has been, at best, a passive, disinterested bystander on collective bargaining and, at worst, has facilitated its denial to many,” said Mr Reidy

“There is an impediment for workers in accessing collective bargaining. There is no such impediment for employers in accessing representation.”

He said the Government needed to “do a 180-degree shift” and that “relevant penalties” should apply to employers that fail to engage with a trade union following “due process” involving the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) and Labour Court.

He said trade union representatives also need legal protections from dismissal or unfair treatment because of their work, as well as adequate time off to do their duties.

However, Maeve McElwee, Ibec’s director of employer relations, said no legal changes were needed for workers to secure their rights in Ireland.

“There already are significant protections for workers within different pieces of legislation,” Ms McElwee said.

Irish workers have a constitutional right to join a trade union, but there is no legal obligation on an employer to recognise or deal with them to negotiate pay and conditions.

Ms McElwee said firms – particularly small firms in Ireland’s regions – have enough legal changes to contend with at present. Ibec chief Danny McCoy has called for a pause in new labour laws, including future phased increases in the minimum wage.

Ms McElwee said Ibec is “not looking to pause the current implementation of the national minimum wage”.

Ibec estimates that new labour market policies – including pension auto-enrolment, increases in employer PRSI, sick pay and a range of additional leave entitlements – will add over €4bn a year to Irish firms’ wage bills.

“All of the legislation that has been imposed, that is imposing a cost. We are seeing the impact of those high labour costs in low-margin businesses,” Ms McElwee said.

Ictu – the umbrella organisation for trade unions, which has 44 affiliated members – says there is an “in-built imbalance” in government policies, where trade union membership stands at 22pc while “representation” for employer bodies is at 70pc.

Mr Reidy said he didn’t want “conscripts” to trade unions but volunteers, and that currently it was “exclusively in the gift of private sector employers” to engage with trade unions.

“People want to join a union so they can get access to collective bargaining. They don’t just join it for the craic,” said Mr Reidy.