The system of industrial relations in Ireland is essentially a
voluntarist one, which renders it unusual by comparison with other
jurisdictions. Under the current system, whilst employees are
legally entitled to join a trade union of their choosing, there is
no concomitant obligation on employers to recognise any trade
union, unless of course they decide to do so.
The Government has come under increasing pressure from unions to
deliver on a campaign promise of mandatory trade union recognition.
At the end of November 2013, the Tánaiste (Irish Deputy
Prime Minister), Eamon Gilmore, announced at the Labour Party's
National Conference that the Government would begin the process of
legislating to give employees the right to engage in collective
bargaining. He outlined that Labour had agreed in the Programme for
Government to reform the current law on employee rights to engage
in collective bargaining, so as to ensure State compliance with
judgments of the European Court
