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Ireland's conundrum on union bargaining rights: assessing the Industrial Relations Amendment Act 2015

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  • Tony Dobbins
  • Niall Cullinane
  • Brian Sheehan

Abstract

Anglophone countries address the question of workplace‐level union bargaining rights via the mechanism of statutory recognition. Existing literature has evaluated such regimes as underpinned by several weaknesses. In contrast, Ireland presents an unusual case whereby the question of bargaining rights is resolved via collective dispute resolution procedures combining voluntary and statutory provisions. However, employer challenges and civil court rulings resulted in the weakening of these procedures from a trade union perspective. We assess the latest attempts to reform the Irish provisions via the Industrial Relations (Amendment) Act 2015, evaluating the implications for unions and their capacity to represent members' on pay and working conditions in comparison to Anglophone statutory recognition regimes.

Suggested Citation

  • Tony Dobbins & Niall Cullinane & Brian Sheehan, 2020. "Ireland's conundrum on union bargaining rights: assessing the Industrial Relations Amendment Act 2015," Industrial Relations Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 51(1-2), pages 75-91, March.
  • Handle: RePEc:bla:indrel:v:51:y:2020:i:1-2:p:75-91
    DOI: 10.1111/irj.12281
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Caroline Murphy & Thomas Turner, 2014. "Organising non-standard workers: union recruitment in the Irish care sector," Industrial Relations Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 45(5), pages 373-388, September.
    2. Paul Teague, 2009. "Path Dependency and Comparative Industrial Relations: The Case of Conflict Resolution Systems in Ireland and Sweden," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 47(3), pages 499-520, September.
    3. Stephen Wood & John Goddard, 1999. "The Statutory Union Recognition Procedure in the Employment Relations Bill: A Comparative Analysis," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 37(2), pages 203-245, June.
    4. Frank Walsh, 2018. "Trade Union density in Ireland since 2003: what do the statistics tell us?," Open Access publications 10197/9907, School of Economics, University College Dublin.
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    Cited by:

    1. Emma Hughes & Tony Dobbins, 2021. "Frontier of control struggles in British and Irish public transport," European Journal of Industrial Relations, , vol. 27(3), pages 327-344, September.
    2. Alan Eustace, 2024. "Dancing at the crossroads: Lessons from Ireland on collective labour law reform," Industrial Relations Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 55(4), pages 303-325, July.

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