The electricians’ and engineering union, the TEEU, has said it will be opposing the referendum on the Lisbon Treaty.
In a statement TEEU general president Frank Keoghan said the Lisbon Treaty would ensure that the interest of the market would always have precedence over the rights of workers.
The statement said the TEEU would re-consider its position if a social protocol was attached and the Directive on the Posting of Workers and the Charter of Fundamental Rights amended to give workers’ rights primacy over the interests of the market.
The TEEU opposed the Lisbon Treaty in the previous referendum.
The TEEU statement was issued at a press conference held by a group of trade union activists who are campaigning for a No vote.
Speaking at the press conference Eddie Conlon, a former honorary secretary of the TUI, said nothing had changed in the Lisbon Treaty since its was rejected by the Irish people in June last year.
“Workers pay and conditions have come under attack from the rulings of the European Court of Justice(ECJ). The Laval, Viking, Ruffert and Luxemburg rulings have restricted the right to take action to prevent transnational contractors using cheap labour; and overruled national laws and agreements on pay and conditions”.
“In all cases, the right to operate a profitable business across borders has been given priority over workers rights. Lisbon, and the Charter of Fundamental Rights, would Workers pay and conditions have come under attack from the rulings of the European Court of Justice(ECJ). The Laval, Viking, Ruffert and Luxemburg rulings have restricted the right to take action to prevent transnational contractors using cheap labour; and overruled national laws and agreements on pay and conditions. In all cases, the right to operate a profitable business across borders has been given priority over workers rights. Lisbon, and the Charter of Fundamental Rights, would not change this anti-worker tendency”, he said.
Mr Conlon also said there was nothing in the Charter of Fundamental Rights that would guarantee the right to trade union recognition. He said the rights in the charter to collective bargaining and action were subject to national laws and practices.