IBEC and unions expected to approve new procedures for union recognition

Unions and employers are expected to formally announce agreement within a matter of weeks on new procedures which would give greater powers to the Labour Court.

The national executive committee of the employers' group IBEC is to meet next month to consider the proposals, which are aimed at resolving conflict over union recognition and preventing pay disputes spilling over into costly industrial action.

The high-level group of social partners, which was established under Partnership 2000, agreed the paper outlining the reforms a fortnight ago. The draft document advocates binding decisions by the Labour Court, but only after an extensive set of voluntary procedures have been explored.

These procedures include, in the first instance, referral of a dispute to the Labour Relations Commission, which will appoint an advisory officer. If a resolution is not forthcoming, an agreed cooling-off period will be put in place, after which the LRC will facilitate further discussions. Where there are unresolved issues the LRC will make a written report to the Labour Court.

Under the proposals, the Labour Court will be empowered to summon unions and employers to attend the court. It will be able to question witnesses and seek any relevant documents. It would, first of all, issue non-binding recommendations, which could be made binding after a period of time. Binding recommendations would cover pay and conditions of employment as well as procedures for settling a dispute.

The Industrial Relations Act of 1946 will have to be amended to provide the court with these additional powers.

Compromise is required from both employers and unions on the issue of union recognition. Under the agreement, employers need not recognise a union per se, but would be forced to accept the right of unionised employees to professional representation.

The agreement was reached against the backdrop of a number of recent pay disputes which resulted in strike action in spite of the mediation of the LRC and the Labour Court.