Ireland: TEEU dispute - AECI reject Labour Court agreement

The AECI, one of the two employers organisations in the Registered Employment Agreement for the Electrical contracting industry has voted to reject the 4.95% settlement agreed in the Labour court recently.

As we explained in the article Electricians return to work but the tensions persist:

"But, it would be a mistake to suggest that the dispute is over and done with. The reality is that the non-binding decision of the Labour Court needs to be accepted by the two employers’ federations (the ECA and the AECI) signed up to the negotiating process. Furthermore a rival employer’s federation which is not part of the Registered Employment Agreement has threatened a legal challenge to the proceedings."

The union suspended the strike for the two week builder's holiday, and then decided to refer the dispute to the Tanaiste with a view to her ordering an enquiry. This is under the terms of the Industrial Relations Act, 1990, specifically:

Section 38 (1) Where the Minister is of the opinion that a trade dispute, actual or apprehended, affects the public interest, he may refer the matter to the Commission or the Court, which shall endeavour to resolve the dispute.

(2) Where the Minister is of the opinion that a trade dispute is a dispute of special importance, he may request the Commission or the Court or another person or body to conduct an enquiry into the dispute and to furnish a report to him on the findings.

However reasonable and diplomatic this might seem, it means that the leadership of the TEEU are essentially handing over control of the outcome of the dispute to the Tánaiste, in other words to the FF government. As we have seen this week, the various noises about slashing the minimum wage and the publication of the An Bord Snip report mean that there is very little to be gained from "social partnership".

The TEEU dispute is extremely important for the Irish working class. A victory for the AECI in this situation would mean that the rest of the bourgeois and the multinationals would be queuing up behind. As such a victory is absolutely essential. As we explained recently this dispute could escalate and become very protracted and bitter. The economic and social crisis in the state means that the old ways old dealing with disputes, negotiation and "social partnership" will come increasingly under pressure as the bosses try and make us pay for their crisis. As we explained in the article Electricians return to work but the tensions persist:

"A successful outcome to the electrician’s action would represent an important victory for all workers. But this won’t drop from the sky; it will require the conscious support and active solidarity of the entire Labour and Trade union movement". The TEEU leadership must prepare for a renewal of the strike call and in addition be prepared to escalate it through ICTU. This time the stakes are high.

July 24, 2009

Source: Fightback - Journal of the International Marxist Tendency in Ireland