'We're going to stand up' - SIPTU promises industrial action on higher pay if necessary

Industrial action will be authorised by Ireland's largest trade union to secure adequate pay rises across the private sector.  

SIPTU representatives addressed over 100 delegates from workplaces across the services sector at their biennial delegate conference - taking place yesterday and today (October 6) - and confirmed members will "stand up" to defend their livelihoods if necessary. 

SIPTU Deputy General Secretary, Gerry McCormack, said: "This idea that workers have to pay the cost for rising inflation is absolute nonsense. We have a policy in our union that across the private sector where our members are dissatisfied with any issue in terms of their pay and once they have gone through the due procedures but are unhappy with the outcome, we will sanction a dispute. 

"We have had a number of such disputes and we will continue to do that. SIPTU members are not going to beg anymore from employers, we are not going to beg from the Government anymore, we’re going to stand up and defend our livelihoods.

"We are not going to have a situation where our members are going to have reduced pay while employers charge people more to go out to restaurants, or buy petrol or whatever it maybe. It is not going to happen.” 

His comments come as the final report of the LEEF High-Level Working Group on Collective Bargaining is published. 

The Group formed in March 2021 to review the collective bargaining landscape in Ireland and to make recommendations for improvement, with the publication of the report announced yesterday (October 5) by Taoiseach Micheál Martin and Tánaiste Leo Varadkar. 

McCormack called the report "very important". 

He said, "We now have a European Directive that has been passed into European law and will be transposed into Irish law. It will mean that collective bargaining coverage will have to go from 37% in this country to 80% of the economy. The significance of this law is that an extra one million workers in Ireland will have to be covered by collective bargaining." 

According to McCormack, this will mean an end to the ability of employers in hospitality and other sectors to refuse to engage with unions concerning the terms and conditions of employment of their members. 

Speaking after the report's publication, the Tánaiste said, "Ireland operates a voluntary system of industry relations, where the State tries to help parties to reach agreement among themselves. This has been very successful in resolving many complex and protracted disputes.  However, our laws are weak when parties refuse to engage.  We also need to keep abreast of the legal situation, as well as developments at EU level which will require us to promote better representation of workers in the workplace.

"The High-level Working Group on Collective Bargaining, which I set up to look at this area, has now submitted its final report. The Group has examined closely the existing workplace relations framework, the issue of trade union recognition and the current statutory wage-setting mechanisms. My sincere thanks to the Group for its work. I have asked my Department to consider the report, consult with stakeholders and develop proposals for implementation which would be subject to a further Government decision.” 

The repot is available to read here.