The electricians' dispute is about the TEEU seeking two increases and contractors saying no, writes
Martin Wall
What is this dispute about?
The Technical Engineering and Electrical Union (TEEU), which represents about 10,500 electricians, is seeking to have the hourly rate of members increased from €21.49 to €23.98. The union is in effect seeking payment of two pay increases. The first is a rise of 5 per cent (or €1.05 per hour) which was calculated by unions and employers in early 2008. This money was never paid and employers now say they cannot afford it. Separately the TEEU is looking for a 2009 increase of 6.37 per cent, which the union has calculated based on its own pay information. This would yield the same level of increase as provided for under the social partnership deal agreed last autumn.
Why does the union say that electricians have not had a rise for several years?
Traditionally pay in the electrical contractor sector is set out in a registered employment agreement (REA), which sets legally-binding minimum pay rates and working conditions for the industry. Up to last year the increase was calculated through an analogue pay comparison exercise based on the pay of electricians outside the contracting industry.
These trends were measured from September to September each year, with the increase calculated applying from April 1st of the following year. Therefore, the union argues that electricians have not had a pay increase since April 2007, and that increase was based on pay movements from September 2005 to September 2006.
The union has also contended that contractors in the interim have tendered for work on the basis of the higher pay rates.
Why was the original 2008 pay rise not accepted?
The original REA containing the 5 per cent rise was agreed between the TEEU and two employer bodies, the ECA and the AECI. However, for it to come into effect it had to be ratified by the Labour Court. Before this could happen, a separate employer body, NECI, legally challenged the move.
A High Court injunction was eventually lifted several months later but by that time the economic downturn had set in and the two original employer representative bodies had changed their mind and opposed changing the registered agreement to allow for the 5 per cent increase to come into effect. More recently the employer bodies have gone further and proposed a 10 per cent pay cut.
After a marathon hearing at the start of the year, the Labour Court decided in March that as the proposed increase under the REA did not have the support of the employers any longer, it would not ratify the rise.
The Labour Court urged the parties to enter into further talks on pay. However these have proved fruitless to date.
At the same time NECI and another independent group of electrical contractors sought to have the original agreement for setting pay levels in the sector, which dated back to 1990, cancelled. This was rejected by the Labour Court.
What are the employers saying now about the increase?
The ECA, which is a part of the Construction Industry Federation and represents about 50 of the largest contractors, has said the issue of the payment of the increase is not off the table forever but it cannot pay it at the moment.
Yesterday the chief executive of NECI, Denis Judge, suggested that the union and all employer representative bodies should enter into “meaningful talks and come up with a proper agreement that will ensure a better future for electricians and a better future for their contractors”.
Mr Judge said it was “incorrect” to say contractors wanted electricians to take pay cuts and that the NECI had no problem with collective bargaining.
Will the strike continue even if new talks take place at the LRC?
Both the Construction Industry Federation and the TEEU have agreed to take part in talks at the Labour Relations Commission (LRC) today but the dispute will go on. There have already been two sets of unsuccessful talks on the dispute at the LRC over the last week, and it remains to be seen whether the positions of the parties have shifted. If there is no common ground the LRC could produce its own settlement for the parties to consider.
It also remains to be seen what the reaction of NECI and other contractors would be to any new settlement terms if they are not part of the process.