Call for end to 'one size fits all' pay award for electricians
THE "one size fits all" pay award mechanism at the heart of last summer's electricians' dispute should be abandoned, according to a top-level report.
The strike, which brought some of Ireland's biggest construction sites to a standstill last July, was triggered by the refusal of groups representing electrical employers to accept pay hike awards under the Registered Employment Agreement (REA) arrangement.
Now, an independent review has recommended a move away from the REA system -- warning that the mechanism should no longer be binding for radically different sectors of the industry.
For more than a decade, the REA mechanism -- which is legally binding -- has determined pay rates within sectors of the construction industry such as electrical contracting.
The independent review was chaired by former Labour Court boss Finbarr Flood and industrial relations guru Peter Cassells. It has now recommended sweeping changes to existing pay award mechanisms, including the REA. These include:
- Ending "one size fits all" wage awards.
- Expansion of pay representation to all permanent employer bodies.
- Representation on pay and working condition negotiations to be awarded on the basis of employer membership.
- Provision of exemptions from binding pay awards via the Labour Court where employers are unable to pay such awards.
- Rigorous measures to ensure a level playing field for all electrical employers in Ireland with particular emphasis on non-Irish firms which accept short-term contracts here.
- Tougher action on employee pension rights.
Last summer's dispute was triggered when two bodies -- the National Electrical Contractors Trade Association and National Electrical Contractors of Ireland -- launched a legal challenge to the REA.
Neither group were legally represented in previous REA deliberations on pay and working conditions.
Strike
Previously, almost all contractors had been represented through the Electrical Contractors Association and the Association of Electrical Contractors of Ireland.
The TEEU (Technical Engineering and Electrical Trade Union) -- which represents an estimated 10,000 electricians -- launched nationwide strike action for one week in July after several high-profile employers refused to honour scheduled pay awards.
The TEEU had demanded that an 11pc pay hike be honoured -- but the high-profile national strike was eventually brought to an end after compromise proposals were hammered out under which a 5pc pay hike was agreed pending further negotiations.
- Ralph Riegel
Irish Independent
