Codes of practice on disputes in essential public services were introduced in Ireland in late 2003. In April 2004, the main employers' organisation, IBEC, called for these non-binding codes to be given legal effect for a three-year trial period, which would prohibit strikes in such services.
In response to current industrial unrest in semi-state firms, such as An Post (postal services) and CIE (transport) (IE0403202F), the Irish Business and Employers Confederation (IBEC) - the largest employer representative body in Ireland - called in April 2004 for codes of practice on disputes in essential services, which were introduced late in 2003, to be given legal effect for a three-year trial period. If implemented, this would result in a strike ban. This proposal to introduce a 'no strike clause' for essential services has been rejected by trade unions, with one union source saying it should not be given too much credence.
The codes of practice in question were introduced in late 2003 across the public service - the health service, local authorities, the civil service and education - in order to comply with the industrial peace/modernisation terms of the current national pact, Sustaining Progress (IE0304201N and IE0301209F). Similar codes had already been in place for some time in a few state-owned companies, notably the Irish Aviation Authority, Iarnrod Eireann (rail) and Bus Eireann. The implementation of the new codes was a precondition for payment of the second phase of the recent public service 'benchmarking' awards (IE0402202N) - whereby public service pay has been benchmarked against comparative grades in the private sector (IE0207203N) - which appeared to provide much of the impetus for their final adoption. The codes of practice had been a long time coming, with a gestation period of approximately 12 years.
In their current form, the codes could not be described as 'no strike clauses'. They still allow for industrial action, albeit after the exhaustion of extensive industrial relations procedures. Essentially, what the codes amount to is a commitment by the parties to any disputes in essential services to the maintenance of an emergency level of service. Essential services include those whose cessation or interruption could endanger life, or cause major damage to the national economy or widespread hardship to the community. This includes health services, energy supplies, including gas and electricity, water and sewage services, fire, ambulance and rescue services and certain elements of public transport.
Further safeguards
IBEC says that the government should protect the public interest by further safeguarding essential public services. To this end, the employer’s body suggests, the codes of practice on disputes in essential services should be given a legally binding effect. If IBEC were to get its way, strikes would be prohibited for a three-year trial period.
IBEC’s director of industrial relations/human resources, Brendan McGinty, commented, 'the bullet has to be bitten'. Mr McGinty said that disputes in essential services have a disproportionate impact on the public and on commerce, referring to recent events in the public transport sector when, he said, people were 'kept on a knife edge'. He described the IBEC proposals as an evolution of the existing pay compliance mechanisms in the Sustaining Progress national agreement.
However, trade union sources are concerned that any further moves down this road would challenge the whole 'voluntarist' industrial relations approach in Ireland. The traditional voluntarist system - under which employers and trade unions were largely free to conduct their affairs without intervention from the state - has arguably already been eroded to such an extent in recent years that it is perhaps now inaccurate for it to be described as such. When combined with the recent introduction of 'pay assessor/inability to pay' procedures (IE0312204F) in the private sector, the new 'performance-verification' process linked to pay benchmarking in the public sector (IE0402202N) is a reflection of the increased formalisation of industrial relations and the erosion of voluntarism.
Dispute data
IBEC’s Mr McGinty expressed concern at recent Central Statistics Office data pointing to an increase in the number of working days lost to industrial action in 2003 (37,482) compared with 2002 (21,257). However, though up on 2002, the number of days lost in 2003 was extremely low in historical terms (IE0201262F), with 29,196 of the 37,482 days being lost in the second quarter, when there was a 10-week strike by public health doctors (IE0307201N). Indeed, the second half of 2003 witnessed general industrial peace, with only 5,205 days lost during this period. Public service trade union leaders would argue that this drop in days lost indicates that the unions and their members are fulfilling their industrial peace obligations under Sustaining Progress and benchmarking.
There are signs that unions and their members are engaging in 'alternative' forms of industrial action falling short of the traditional strike weapon, which are frequently not counted in the official CSO strike data. Commentators argue that, rather than disappearing, it is more likely that workplace conflict is being expressed in different forms - both collective and individual, overt and covert - such as work-to-rules, overtime bans, short one/two hour stoppages and protests.
Commentary
The call from Ireland’s largest employers' body, IBEC, to place the recently implemented codes of practice on dispute resolution in essential public services on a legal footing is unlikely to get the go-ahead, given trade union reservations. The unions are concerned that the traditional voluntarist system of industrial relations - and their ability to strike and flex their industrial muscle - would be further eroded by any move to ban strikes in essential services. Already, it is perhaps no longer accurate to describe the Irish industrial relations system as voluntarist, given the extension of domestic and EU employment legislation. The formalisation of pay determination is already quite pronounced, with pay assessment/verification procedures being introduced in both the public and private sectors under the current national agreement, Sustaining Progress.
Irish trade unions already have to satisfy a number of industrial relations and legal procedures before they can officially initiate strike action - such as referring disputes to third-party dispute resolution bodies such as the Labour Relations Commission and the Labour Court, conducting a secret ballot of members and providing a minimum period of notice of industrial action. In fact, levels of industrial action remain at historically low levels in Ireland. (Tony Dobbins, IRN)