Joan Collins (Dublin South Central, Independents 4 Change) | Oireachtas source

I move: "That the Bill be now read a Second Time."

On behalf of the Right2Change party, I am delighted to introduce this simple but impactful Bill, which will strengthen trade unions, make it easier for workers to join a union and take a trade union-busting tactic off the table when workers are negotiating for their own pay and conditions. This Bill recognises both the importance of trade unions to the livelihoods of workers and the difficulties trade unions face when organising and representing those workers. It has a few simple provisions. The Bill would require employers to facilitate trade union deductions at source when requested by the worker, would require the employer to pass on the information of the worker paying the deduction and sets out the provisions of how this process should work.

It would also go some way to Ireland fulfilling its obligation under the EU directive on adequate minimum wages. It is a simple but effective Bill and that is why I think the Government is opposing it. It simplifies the process of joining a union. It simplifies the administration of a trade union by providing a straightforward way of managing information on members and their subscriptions. It would also prevent companies from threatening workers and their trade unions with the withdrawal of deduction facilities in times of dispute, and simplify collective bargaining.

There are no provisions in this Bill to force an employer to recognise or negotiate with a union. It does not force employers to bargain with a trade union. It simply enables workers to request to pay their union subscriptions from their own wages. It works in a similar way to a host of other deductions made from workers' wages on request, such as pension contributions or subscriptions to a sports club or other club, the Hospital Saturday Fund, the bike to work scheme, which are among the numerous deductions that workers request employers to make.

The Bill reflects a real need to strengthen the rights of workers in Ireland. Ireland has among the lowest trade union collective bargaining density in the EU. The implications of that are that Ireland has among the highest prevalence of low pay, and among the highest market inequality rates in the EU. We have growing deprivation, an increased number of people being at risk of poverty and consistent poverty rates. In 2009 there were 91,407 adults living in poverty while working. Despite the economic recovery, by 2021 this had increased by more than 42,000 workers to 133,627 living in poverty while working. This is an increase of 42,000 people working quite literally for poverty wages. Those are the people this Bill would help the most by reducing the obstructions trade unions face in the work they do.

In recent years, through the Covid pandemic, the cost-of-living crisis and the worsening housing crisis, we have seen real wages fall as costs rise. Inflation, heating costs, and rent have all eaten into workers' wages. This has affected the most vulnerable the most, namely, single parents, those with disabilities or those caring for someone with a disability and low-paid workers. They are among the groups that are most at risk of poverty in Ireland. They have seen their costs go up while their wages have failed to rise to meet them.

Strengthening trade unions, collective bargaining, and the right of workers to negotiate their own pay and conditions is central to making sure that those experiencing poverty or deprivation or who are at risk of them can defend and improve their own living standards. This will not just require making it easier for a worker to join a union but it will also strengthen the hand of unions when facing employers threatening to use union-busting or union-avoidance tactics.

This Bill directly addresses a more and more common tactic of union busting by some employers. We know that certain employers have adopted union-busting strategies that include unilaterally ceasing deductions when a worker takes industrial action. They also refuse to increase subscriptions when requested by a trade union. In addition, they refuse to provide details of workers when remitting payment, which makes it difficult for a union to allocate payments to its members. I know of a multinational company that has ended deduction at source but only for the branches that went out on strike during an industrial dispute. I also know of a company that for at least 18 years has refused to pass on increases in trade union subscriptions, which means that every trade union member employed by that company is automatically in arrears and must pay the difference before they are entitled to union representation. This puts a burden on trade unions at all times. That has been explicitly introduced by a number of companies.

I am also aware of companies that withhold information on workers, which means unions must go back out and gather that information all over again. I am aware of companies that have unilaterally ended deductions at source. I also know of companies that have withheld subscriptions from a trade union for months at a time. More than that, I have seen plenty of examples of companies threatening to employ these tactics. Deductions at source are used as a bargaining chip during negotiations. I hear that threat is being used more and more against trade unions.

Not one member of the Minister of State's party came to a meeting in the AV room yesterday that I organised to facilitate Members.

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