The 89 TDs, a majority of TDs in Dáil Eireann, who signed the ‘Respect at Work’ pledge will be held to account by trade unions to ensure they keep their commitment to improve workers’ rights, SIPTU Deputy General Secretary, Ethel Buckley, told the Union’s Services Divisional Conference in Galway.
Buckley said: “The Respect at Work campaign convinced 89 TDs in the new Dáil to sign our General Election pledge to support legislation for collective bargaining, to protect Shop Stewards from the scourge of union-busting and to give workers greater access to trade unions.
“The Minister for Enterprise and Employment, Peter Burke, and the Minister of State in the same Department, Alan Dillon, both signed the Respect at Work pledge. Arguably, this achievement represents more cross-party political support for collective bargaining than there has been in the Dáil in decades.”
She added: “In the coming weeks, months, and years, we intend to hold all those politicians—from every party in government and opposition—who signed the pledge to account. We intend to hold the Minister and Junior Minister’s feet to the fire.”
Buckley said central to the demands of the Respect at Work campaign were protections for workers who wish to form a trade union. She said: “The right to unionise, free from employer coercion or victimisation, is a fundamental right of all workers—a right denied many workers in Ireland. Denied to the tens of thousands of workers who want a trade union at work but are afraid to unionise because of their employer’s backlash.”
She added: “We have a tradition in this Union that says: when we fight, we win. There is nothing we cannot achieve when we stand together. Every challenge we face is an opportunity to build a fairer, more equal Ireland.”