On May 13, the government presented its draft reform of collective bargaining law. Ireland was under pressure from European and international law, notably the ILO, to better enforce employees’ rights to organize and collectively negotiate their working conditions. The reform doesn’t affect the voluntary principle on which Irish law is based (no obligation to recognize a union or collectively negotiate working conditions) and essentially plays on the legal framework unions can use to improve working conditions when employers refuse to open collective negotiations.
The Irish collective bargaining system is voluntary. In Ireland, collective bargaining is voluntary, which means minimum interference from the law and the public powers, which only set out a favorable context and mutually recognize the social partners. Unlike other countries where this system is in force, there is no mandatory recognition procedure (recourse for unions that claim representation to get statutory recognition, even though the 2001 and 2004 reforms of the Industrial Relations Act added to the possibility for unions to go to the Labour Court). This court is jointly constituted and usually intervenes within the framework of mediation.
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