Ireland: government and social partners to work on overhauling industrial relations

A comprehensive review of industrial relations. On 30 March the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment Leo Varadkar announced the review of a system he considers to be excessively dependent on the voluntary approach by players. A high-level working group, under the aegis of the Labour Employer Economic Forum, which brings together representatives of employers and trade unions with Government Ministers to discuss economic, employment and labour market issues, will meet to draw up proposals for reform. On the agenda: the system of trade union recognition by employers (who can currently refuse to discuss with unions), and the functioning of negotiations within the company regarding wages and working conditions in relation to the economic situation, and wage-setting mechanisms. Sector employment decrees, which set salary and protection minima for workers, are currently under constitutional review and may be in contravention of the European directive proposal on adequate minimum wages (c.f. article No. 12199). In January 2021, Tánaiste Leo Varadkar joined the coalition of eight countries calling for the directive to be a recommendation rather than a binding legal instrument. “In light of … international initiatives to look more closely at how employers and unions engage on issues of mutual interest, I believe it is time to look at collective bargaining and the industrial relations landscape in Ireland,” he said. The high- level working group is expected to present its report in July.