The Communications Workers’ Union (CWU), together with SIPTU, Mandate and the FSU, is spearheading a campaign to pressure the Irish Government to do the right thing by protecting and promoting workers’ rights at work.
In Ireland, unlike the vast majority of other EU countries, employers can ignore workers who want to collectively bargain through their union. Workers are experiencing union-busting tactics in companies across the country – from losing bonuses or pay increases, being prevented from accessing union representatives, all the way up to being sacked for trying to organise a union in their workplace.
The Respect at Work campaign is a worker led campaign that is timed to coincide with the introduction of a new EU Directive on Adequate Minimum Wages which the Government is due to enact by November.
The Government is being asked to ensure that workers have a legal right to organise a trade union in their workplace and are protected from discrimination and dismissal while doing so.
The campaign is demanding legal protections that would ensure that employee representatives and union Shop Stewards have the protections they need while representing the interests of their colleagues. Workers in Ireland cannot collectively bargain in companies where they cannot organise a trade union.
The aim of the Directive is to improve living and working conditions in the European Union and its objective is to contribute to reducing wage inequality. Adequate minimum wages and collective bargaining are seen by the EU as the key mechanisms to achieving these aims and objectives.
The EU Directive needs to be transposed by the Government by November 2024 and Ireland will be ‘expected’ to establish its action plan by the end of 2025 at the latest and the plan will have to focus on effectively promoting collective bargaining.
The incoming Directive offers a once-in-a-generation opportunity for Irish workers to level the playing field – by demanding legislation that protects workers and guarantees access to trade unions.
We are calling on all members to get behind the campaign by signing up to support the campaign at We are calling on all members to get behind the campaign by signing up to support the campaign at www.respectatwork.ie
For updates on the campaign, you can follow on our social media platforms by scanning below.
