A LEGAL challenge by electrical contractors to the validity of the registered employment agreement governing payment of electricians has opened before the High Court.
The proceedings by several independent contractors are against the Labour Court and the Attorney General and arise out of the registered employment agreement (REA) for the electrical contracting industry, registered on September 24th, 1990.
That agreement governing the remuneration of electricians was between the Technical Engineering and Electrical Union (TEEU) and the employers’ bodies, the Association of Electrical Contractors Ireland (AECI) and the Electrical Contractors of Ireland (ECI), and was at the centre of an industrial dispute earlier this year.
In their action, the contractors claim the registered agreement is invalid because they were not party to it and were not represented by any party to the agreement.
In their challenges, they are seeking declarations that the registered agreement is invalid and in breach of the provisions of the 1946 Industrial Relations Act. They also allege it breaches their rights to earn a living under the Constitution and the European Convention on Human Rights.
It is also claimed the agreement was never validly registered and the Labour Court had in February last incorrectly refused to cancel the agreement following a request by 1,110 contractors.
The High Court has also been asked to consider legal issues referred by the District Court concerning the validity of a prosecution brought on behalf of the Minister for Enterprise against an electrical contractor for alleged non-compliance with the agreement.
The defendants have denied the claims and contend the agreement is valid. The TEEU and the employers’ bodies are notice parties to the case.
Opening the action yesterday, Nuala Butler SC, for the contractors, said they had brought the case arising from their serious concerns for their businesses.
Counsel said the rates of pay provided for in the agreement have been increased on 14 occasions since 1990. As her clients were compelled to implement higher pay rates, many smaller contractors have had to let staff go, she said.
At a time when people are facing pay cuts and job losses, it was unfair that contractors would have to pay wage increases, Ms Butler said. All practitioners were bound by the terms of the agreement, whether they were party to it or not, and any contractor who did not comply with it faced a criminal sanction.
Arguing the agreement was invalid, counsel said there was an onus on the Labour Court to ensure all sides involved in putting together an agreement were representative of the industry, but that was not the case here.
The members of the AECI and ECI were large and medium-sized electrical contractors and represented about one-sixth of contractors in 1990, Ms Butler said.
In 2009, they represented about one in 10 of the total number of contractors.
Counsel argued that the Labour Court applied the wrong test last February when it decided not to cancel the agreement. While the Labour Court had accepted the agreement was unfair and anti-competitive, it did not cancel it because it was not found to be unfair to all sides, she said.
The case, before Mr Justice John Hedigan, is expected to last two weeks.