SIPTU leaders have told members they will take any action necessary to secure union recognition. Delegates unanimously passed a motion calling for the Irish Congress of Trade Unions to withdraw from Partnership 2000 if employers do not concede the right of workers to be represented by the union of their choice.
The union president, Mr Jimmy Somers, told delegates yesterday "the jury is still out" on whether employers are committed to social partnership in this area. "We have to see if IBEC are fully committed, especially on local partnership and union action.
"You know where we stand on this. We will take whatever action we have to take on these issues."
Replying to the debate, SIPTU general secretary Mr Billy Attley said SIPTU and the unions which formed it had been fighting for union recognition since 1913. When the high-level group on union recognition, set up by the Government, made its report at the end of the year the trade union movement would have decisions to make.
"We are not trying to force people into trade unions", he said. "We simply want workers who of their own volition want to join a union and be represented by it to be able to do so."