Trade Unions

1
Trade Unions Employers Associations Overview

• Objectives
• Historical Development in FF
• Structure
• Functions
• Legal Position
• Challenges

2
Trade Unions

• continuous association of wage earners for the
  purpose of maintaining and improving the
  conditions of their working lives.

3
The Basis of Trade Unionism

• Movement ? direction towards a common purpose
• Organisation ? means of ensuring that members
  comply
• (Flanders 1970)

4
Decision to Join a Union

• Reward Motive
• benefits outweigh costs of membership
• Collective Motive
• power in numbers
• Social Motive
• peer pressure to join in

5
Decision Not to Join a Union

• Dont feel the need
• Individualism
• Mobility
• Negotiating power
• Protective legislation
• Ignorance suspicion
• Fear of employers reaction

6
Alternatives to Trade Unions

• Individual bargaining
• Work-based, in-house associations

7
Types of Unions

• CRAFT eg. TEEU
• WHITE COLLAR eg. IMPACT
• GENERAL eg. SIPTU
• THE I.C.T.U.

8
T.U. Density in Ireland

• Rapid rise in density 1945early 50s
• More gradual growth 1950s1970
• Virtual stagnation 1977 1979
• followed by sudden rise
• Declining density 1980s
• Slow growth 1990-2003

9
Political power of Trade Unions depends on

• Political party in power
• Relationship with government
• Union involvement in policy
• Content of labour legislation

10
Trade Union Objectives

• Replace individual bargaining with collective
  bargaining redressing the balance of power in
  favour of employees
• Facilitate the development of a political system
  where workers have more influence on political
  decisions
• Achieve satisfactory levels of pay and conditions
  of employment and provide members with range of
  services.

11
ICTU First Principles

• - Union actions and policies are based on the
  democratic decisions of a well informed
  membership
• - Workers need unions as much today as at any
  time in the past
• - Unions must retain the right to withdraw
  labour as a legitimate means of pursuing demands

12
ICTU

• - Bad employers who treat workers shoddily have
  to be confronted, exposed and forced to change
  their behaviour
• - Unions must be able to adapt their strategies
  and methods to different situations.

13
Objectives of ICTU

• Maintain right of workers to organise and
  negotiate.
• Ensure full equality in all aspects of
  employment.
• Support democratic system of government.
• Co-operate in economic activities of nation.
• Seek full use of Irish resources for benefit of
  Irish people.
• Promote fraternal relationships with T.U.s in
  other countries.

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• Employers have a natural right to exploit
  workers and disrupt their lives workers have a
  highly qualified right not to be excessively
  exploited or disrupted. Hence the legitimate
  functions of trade unions extend not further than
  the protection of their members against the more
  extreme consequences of their subordination to
  capital the fact of this subordination they are
  not entitled to challenge. (Hyman 1975)

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More Radical Aims of Trade Unionism

• the reconstruction of the social order
• the abolition of the dominating role of profit
• the establishment of workers control
• the humanisation of work
• the elimination of inequalities in standards of
  living and conditions of life
• (Hyman 1975)

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Trade Union Structure

• WORKPLACE ? Individual members, Shop Steward,
  Section Committee
• -----------------------------------------------
• BRANCH ? Branch Secretary (full-time)
• ------------------------------------------------
• NATIONAL ? Annual Delegate Conference
• National Executive (full-time)
• General Secretary (David Begg) Officers

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Shop Steward

• an employee who is accepted by management and
  the union as the lay representative of the union
  and its members, with responsibility to act on
  their behalf in industrial relations matters at
  the organisation level.
• (Salamon 1992)

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Shop Steward - Tasks

• - Recruit new members
• - Collect subscriptions
• - Negotiate with management
• - Channel of communication between members and
  union
• - Defend and enhance interests of members

19
Union Membership

• 64 unions affiliated to ICTU
• ICTU membership represents 48 of all employees
• Membership
• 750,000 (ROI NI)
• 44 women

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Top Three Irish Unions

• SIPTU (services, industrial, Professional
  Technical)
• IMPACT (Irish Municipal, Public Civil)
• MANDATE

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Functions of ICTU

• Collective bargaining (EU)
• Representation
• Union organisation
• Service provision
• IR Institutions
• Public relations

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Legal Position

• . Only licensed trade unions permitted to engage
  in collective bargaining.
• LICENSING
• Register with Registrar of Friendly Societies.
• 18 month notification
• Financial deposit (min 5000)
• (as per Trade Union Acts 1941/1971)

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Legal Position (as per IR Act 1990)

• Protects persons from engaging in trade
  dispute from civil liability
• Protects T.U. funds against actions for
  damages
• Legalises peaceful picketing
• Under Act trade union required to secretly
  ballot members before action takes place.

24
Trade Union Revenue

• Membership subscriptions
• Training
• Publications
• Specialist Services

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Challenges Facing Trade Unions Today

• Union Recognition
• Membership changing workforce
• National Level Agreements
• Workplace Consultation
• See Strategic Priorities

26
ICTU Publication (1999)

• A big challenge is to remain relevant to the
  needs of modern workers who expect unions to
  protect their interests and improve the quality
  of their working lives.
• Todays well informed, well educated and
  assertive workers know that the real action is in
  the boardroom and not on the barricades.

27

• Exploring new ways of developing more positive,
  constructive and productive relationships with
  management and employers will be one of the
  biggest challenges for unions in the new
  millennium.

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Employer Associations

• Formal groups of employers set up to defend,
  represent or advise affiliated employers and to
  strengthen their position in society at large
  with respect to labour matters as distinct from
  commercial matters.
• (Oechslin 1985)

29
IBECs Mission Statement

• to influence vigorously the formation of policy
  at national, European and international levels
  towards the development of an enterprise culture,
  the creation of economic and social conditions
  favourable to the profitable growth and
  effectiveness of Irish business and employers,
  whilst having due regard to the interests of the
  wider community

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IBEC

• and
• to provide quick response, assistance,
  information, advice and representation for
  members in protecting their interests and
  maximising performance.

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Employer Objectives in Industrial Relations

• Preservation and consolidation of private
  enterprise system
• Maximise organisational effectiveness and returns
  for shareholders
• Effective use of human resources
• Control authority in decision making
• Good management employee relations

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Employer Association Membership

• Advantages
• - Collective approach uniform policy
• - Advice on HR, IR, LL, HS, EU etc.
• - Standardised pay conditions
• - Influence on government business
  institutions

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• Disadvantages
• - Cost of membership
• - Loss of autonomy
• - Loss of flexibility
• - Formalisation in I.R.
• - Comparisons with other companies

34
Historical Development

• Recorded as far back as 1776
• Early Employer Associations Trade Associations
• Grew in response to Trade Unionism.
• Legal Position as per Trade Unions

35
Employer Association Structure

• Presiding Officer
• (President/General Secretary(Maurice Pratt))
• ?
• Executive Board/Management Committee
• ?
• General Council
• ?
• Assembly/General Meetings
• ?
• Individual Affiliated Employers

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Membership (IBEC)

• 7,000 member companies
• 75 lt 100 EMPLOYEES
• 50 lt 50 EMPLOYEES
• Top 3 Employer Associations
• IBEC
• Construction Industry Federation
• Irish Pharmaceutical Union

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E.A. Functions (IBEC)

• Research Advisory
• Representation
• Education Training
• Collective Bargaining
• Influence policy
• IR Business organisations

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E.A. Challenges

• National Agreements what happens next?
• Workplace consultation
• Cost Annual membership fee for company with
  1,500 employees approx 50k (2003) regardless
  of services used.
• Control over member firms.