With industrial relations it pays for both sides to get it right

While the working world adjusts to different demands union membership is rising as they try to change with the times, writes Claire Shoesmith

My intention this week was to continue along the theme of product launches and look at advertising. What makes a good advert?

However, as is common in the news industry, something else comes along and before you know it, your original story idea is pushed on to the back burner in favour of something more topical.

So in true journalistic style, I have decided to leave the theme of advertising for another week and for now focus on something that has played a large part in dictating the Irish news agenda this week, namely industrial relations.

At the beginning of this week, Irish Ferries wrote to workers on its Irish Sea routes, offering them a choice between redundancy and lower pay. The company, which is part of Irish Continental group, is seeking 543 voluntary redundancies on its services between Dublin and Holyhead and Rosslare to Pembroke.

It is offering workers a voluntary redundancy package of up to six weeks pay per year of service as well as the statutory two weeks' pay. Workers have until October 2nd to accept the package, which the company has said is subject to "no threat of or actual industrial action of any sort happening".

If its workers were to threaten strike action, Irish Ferries said it would "have no option" but to stop operating ferries on Irish routes, forcing compulsory redundancy on its workers.

Naturally it did not take long for the unions to criticise the move. Siptu, Ireland's largest trade union whose full title is the Service, Industrial, Professional and Technical Union, said it was left with no choice but to strike, and immediately served notice on the company.

Conversely, Robert Carrick, head of the Seaman's Union of Ireland, which represents about 60 per cent of the 543 workers affected by Monday's announcement, said he expects take-up of the redundancy package by his members, some of whom have worked for the company for as many as 30 years, to be "extremely high". Still, his union called in the services of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (Ictu), which in turn convened a meeting with the National Implementation Body - a group of high-level Government, employers and union representatives - to discuss the situation.

By the time you read this article, the situation at Irish Ferries may well have moved on following the meeting of the implementation body, which should be gathering as I write.

However, the events of this week whatever their outcome, serve as a good example of the power of unions and lead us nicely on to a brief examination of unions in the world of Irish industrial relations.

Firstly, what exactly are industrial relations? It is a phrase commonly used to denote the relationship between management and employees.

Trade unions, which are organisations representing employees, first emerged in Irland in cities such as Dublin, Cork and Belfast around the time of the industrial revolution. Some of the main unions in Ireland today are Siptu, the Irish National Teachers Organisation (INTO), the Amalgamated Transport and General Workers Union (ATGWU) - which is at the moment in dispute with the ESB - and the Communication Workers Union (CWU).

"It's about a sense of solidarity," says Michael Bride, head of legal affairs at the CWU, which represents workers in the communications industry. "That's what trade unionism is. It's about showing people that by standing together you can achieve a stronger goal."

The Irish Constitution guarantees the right of citizens to form associations and unions, but it also allows the State to enact legislation to regulate and control this right in the public interest.

While there is no obligation to join such a group, last year union membership in the Republic increased by 10,277, bringing the total number of workers affiliated to a union to 557,097. In the North, union affiliation stands at 212,869, an increase of 4,790 over the prior year.

So why would you want to join a union and what benefits does it provide? According to Macdara Doyle, a spokesman for Ictu, which represents about 770,000 working people, the role of the trade union has changed little over the years.

"At its most basic level, unionism is about defending and advancing the wishes of working people; whether it be on building site safety, or preventing a particular person being bullied in the workplace or ensuring that a worker is receiving all the benefits they are entitled to," says Mr Doyle. "Your union rep has always been the person you go to if you have a problem within the workplace and this will not change."

Still, while the role of the union has not changed, issues the union should concern itself with have, according to Mr Doyle. It is no longer a group that should be associated with workers, on picket lines waving placards, he says.

"Unionism is for everyone," says the CWU's Mr Bride, citing Robbie Keane and Damien Duff as examples of prominent names who are members of unions. As members of the Professional Footballers Association the footballers, along with other star names, like David Beckham, stood up for less wellknown players from lower leagues in a struggle over pay.

"Today the union also has a role to play in influencing policy and legislation," says Mr Doyle, citing examples like workplace rules and European changes to work permit legislation.

He says the Ictu will be submitting responses to several proposed Government bills to try and steer policy in the direction most favourable to workers.

"There is a far greater need for the unions to provide services today," he says. "The working world is changing and the unions have to move with the times."