Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2021, published 110th ILC session (2022)

Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention, 1949 (No. 98) - Ireland (Ratification: 1955)

Article 4 of the Convention. Promotion of Collective bargaining. Self-employed workers. The Committee recalls that the Competition (Amendment) Act No. 12 of 2017 that recognizes to certain categories of self-employed workers the right to bargain collectively had given rise to divergent observations from the Irish social partners, the Irish Business and Employers’ Confederation having expressed its concern in relation to, among others, the parameters and mechanisms for determining the self-employed workers entitled to bargain collectively and the implications of the reform on Ireland’s competitiveness, while the Irish Congress of Trade Unions had on the contrary considered the reform to be far too restrictive as it would not protect the collective bargaining rights of multiple categories of self-employed workers that are not exempted from the competition law. In this regard, the Committee had noted the Government’s indication that: (i) while the Act only grants an automatic exemption from the Competition Act 2002 to three categories of self-employed workers (voice over actors, session musicians and freelance journalists), trade unions are entitled to apply for an exemption using the criteria set out for other classes of self-employed workers (false or fully dependent); (ii) the partners for collective bargaining remain those identified in the Industrial Relations (Amendment) Act 2001, that is, employers, employers’ organizations, trade unions or excepted body; and (iii) section 15F of this Act is aimed at ensuring that any exemptions have no or minimal economic effect on the market.

The Committee takes note of the information provided by the Government in its last report concerning recent activities in the collective bargaining area and in particular of the creation in March 2021 of a new Labour Employer Economic Forum (LEEF) Working Group on Collective Bargaining with a view to reviewing collective bargaining and the industrial relations landscape in Ireland. The Committee also notes that the Government points out that in September 2017, the Department of Enterprise Trade and Employment published a guidance note and an application form in both English and Irish on its website which a Trade Union may use to apply for an exemption from the application of section 4 of the Competition Act 2002 in respect of certain classes of self-employed workers. The Committee finally notes the Government’s indication that to date there has been no application for an exemption under this section by any Trade Union. Recalling that it considers that the degree to which collective bargaining rights are assured to self-employed workers depends on the practical application of the Competition Act, the Committee requests the Government to continue to provide information on its practical application.

Practical application of the Industrial Relations (Amendment) Act 2015. The Committee takes due note of the updated information provided by the Government concerning in particular: (i) the new Sectoral Employment Order (Construction Sector) 2019; (ii) the three Registered Employment Agreements (collectively bargained agreements at enterprise level) registered in 2019; and (iii) the functioning of the eight Joint Labour Committees (JLCs) and the existence of Employment Regulation Orders in place for both the Contract Cleaning and Security JLCs. The Committee requests the Government to continue to provide information on the practical application of the Industrial Relations (Amendment) Act 2015 on the promotion of free and voluntary collective bargaining.