Brendan Ryan (Labour)

Sections 14 to 16, inclusive, do not provide for somebody who can represent unorganised workers. Anybody working in agriculture is free to join a representative body and every employer is equally free to join IBEC. However, a significant number of people in this country are effectively being prevented by their employers from joining trade unions. A study carried out by UCD suggests that 70% of those at work would join a trade union if their employers allowed them to do so. It is extraordinary that one branch of partnership, namely employers, is preventing part of another branch of partnership from taking part in an institutional arrangement.

There is no simple solution to this issue but it needs to be put on the agenda. Many people in this country have reservations about how their employers would react if they joined a union. I refer to small businesses which employ three people. My experience of employers in the voluntary and charity sectors is that many of these would also take exception to trade union membership among their employees.

At present, there is nobody to represent those who are not allowed by their employers to join a union. The trade union movement does its best but it would be preferable that every worker could feel free to join a union.