Fines for industrial relations breaches to go up

The Government plans to increase fines for breaches of industrial relations law in a clamp down on problems in the building sector.

Minister of State at the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Mr Fahey, indicated yesterday that he planned to increase fines for breaking the terms of the registered building agreements that govern industrial relations in the industry.

Fines for breaching their terms are as low as €127. Mr Fahey told a Dáil committee that he would introduce an amendment to the Industrial Relations Bill, 2003, increasing the penalties, which are set out in a 58-year-old law.

The building agreements are one of a small number registered with the Labour Court under the Industrial Relations Act, 1946. They bind unions and employers and govern pay, conditions, pensions and dispute resolution in the sector. Similar deals apply in contract cleaning, security and other areas, but construction is by far the biggest sector to which they apply.

Mr Fahey's proposal would apply to all industries governed by registered agreements. But the Minister said after the meeting that it was chiefly aimed at the construction sector. He did not say what level of increases he planned to introduce.

Companies that fail to contribute to the industry's pension scheme could be hit with the increased fines. The scheme is governed by one registered agreement. Some building firms were found last year to have owed the scheme arrears of as much as €250,000.

On the other side, the plan could also affect building unions whose members engage in unofficial or unsanctioned industrial action. The National Implementation Body, charged with ensuring the industrial peace provisions of Sustaining Progress, is investigating the unofficial pickets that have dogged the bricklaying sector of the industry.

Mr Fahey was addressing the Dáil Select Committee on Enterprise and Small Business, which was debating the Industrial Relations (Amendment) Bill, 2003. During the debate, Labour Party spokesman on enterprise, trade and employment Mr Brendan Howlin, said some law firms were already advising client companies on how to avoid one provision of the Act.

Mr Howlin told the committee that the Irish Congress of Trade Unions had told him that employers were being advised that they could frustrate the terms of the Bill allowing the Labour Court to intervene in disputes in non-union workplaces, by setting up "works committees".

But the Minister said the legislation dealt adequately with any attempt that employers could make to avoid this provision.

The Industrial Relations Bill, 2003, gives new dispute settling powers to the Labour Court in cases where there are no collective bargaining procedures in place.

It also provides for a grievance procedure for workers who feel they have been victimised by employers.