Gerald Nash (Louth, Labour) | Oireachtas source

Amendment No. 13 from Deputy Tóibín seeks to provide a role for trade union officials in the enforcement of registered employment agreements, registered employment orders - which are more correctly entitled sectoral employment orders - and employment regulation orders. The amendment would also provide for the Minister making regulations providing for a right of access to trade union officials to the workplace and employees. Finally, it seeks to prohibit an employer from coercing workers to relinquish or abstain from an REA.

In respect of REAs, it is clearly a matter for the parties concerned whether they wish to include in the agreement provisions in regard to access to workplaces for trade union officials, and I understand this was the case previously. A registered employment agreement will be binding on the parties to the agreement and I am aware that some previous REAs, such as the construction REA, provided that, in the event of concerns arising regarding compliance, a trade union official would have access to a designated member of management. It is totally open to the parties to agree similar provisions in the future.

There is nothing in the legislation to prevent that happening. The right of access, so to speak, does not currently exist in primary legislation and it is misleading to pretend it does.

As regards the appointment of other persons, including union officials as inspectors, the powers that have been given to the National Employment Rights Authority inspectors are quite extensive. They include, for example, the power to use reasonable force to enter a place of work or a premises where there is a reasonable belief it is being used for the employment of persons or the keeping of records. NERA inspectors have powers to copy records and remove books, documents or records for a period they reasonably consider necessary. Inspectors can, under warrant of the District Court, enter a domestic dwelling with other inspectors or members of the Garda Síochána in pursuit of documents or records. Such extensive powers are rightly and appropriately reserved for officers of the Minister who are appointed as inspectors. It is ultimately, and correctly, for the State to ensure there is compliance with legislation in this and other areas of law.

It is vital that trade unions are able to represent the interests of their members and take action in support of those interests. The laws of this State vindicate that right. However, the suggestion that trade union officials should have a statutory right to enter a workplace to meet with workers, even in workplaces that do not recognise trade unions, is a new proposition which represents a fundamental departure from the current position. It would, very significantly, leave the important legislation that is before us today open to the possibility of a legal challenge as regards an employer's constitutional right not to engage with or recognise trade unions. Having worked over a long period with the relevant actors to restore the sectoral frameworks following the McGowan decision in 2013, I am loath to open the door to a challenge that would jeopardise this legislation, which is extremely urgent and entirely necessary for the enhancement of employment rights in this country. We must all be mindful of the potential for such challenges when considering legislation. All of us who are serious or claim to be serious about enhancing workers' rights should concern ourselves with the possibility of legal challenges in the context of this Bill. What we have before us is finely-balanced legislation. It is critical that we are able to enact it in a spirit of confidence that the provisions it contains are copperfastened and secure. I am loath to stand over anything that might jeopardise the legislation by leaving it open to any class of challenge. We can be sure there will be people only too prepared to consider such a challenge. In that context, I implore colleagues to support the overarching principles of the Bill and what it seeks to achieve. We must work together to that end.

Amendment No. 14 provides for an entitlement for a union to represent an employee's interests under a registered employment agreement or sectoral employment order, including matters involving discipline and grievance procedures. Section 41(15) of the Workplace Relations Act 2015 already provides that a trade union official may accompany a worker at proceedings before an adjudication officer in regard to a complaint, while section 44(9) of that Act has the same provision in respect of proceedings before the Labour Court. Accordingly, I cannot accept this amendment.

Amendment No. 15 proposes further rights of access to workplaces for trade union officials for the purposes of monitoring compliance with REAs and SEOs, and also with a view to carrying out trade union business on the premises with workers. For the reasons I outlined in respect of amendment No. 13, and more comprehensively on Committee Stage, I cannot accept this amendment.

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