‘I felt like I was being watched’: action to tackle ‘vicious’ trade union fraud in Ireland

Trade union collapse in Ireland is flourishing despite denials it is happening, according to a campaign group which has launched a study highlighting its impact on worker wellbeing.

The survey found that more than half of workplace representatives had observed at least two forms of union fraud and 40% said employers had discouraged workers from joining a union.

The Respect at Work campaign surveyed 159 worker representatives from four trade unions, with the help of Queen’s University Belfast.

Lead author of the report, Dr Gareth Murphy, said that while one form of union fraud could be seen as the result of a “rogue” manager, many examples of more than two forms were telling.

The report, which interviewed people who had formed unions in their workplaces, found that almost half of shop managers said their efforts had a negative impact on their physical and mental health.

Dr. Murphy said “refined” anti-union strategies by employers will see a range of actions ranging from dismissals and victimization to polls and internal employee forums.

“The internal body is not a trade union. There is no collective bargaining and employees are not independently represented. It is not of and by employees,” he said.

“So under any international law that defines what trade unions are and defines what collective bargaining (is), it is neither.

“There is a spectrum of behavior, and you will often find that employers ebb and flow and choose the right tactics based on the circumstances they find themselves in.

“The only thing we have in common is that we avoid recognizing collective bargaining with a union.”

Siptu deputy general secretary Ethel Buckley said the idea that union busting was just “an American phenomenon” was “an absolute myth” and said there were “brutal” examples of anti-union action by employers in Ireland.

“We are facing an epidemic of low-paid work in this country. What is one of the main reasons we have it? It’s this very high level of non-unionization in the Irish labor market.

“We explain in this report that the main contributing factor is not that workers do not want to join a union, but that they are afraid to join a union.”

She said Ireland has some of the weakest workers’ rights in Western Europe, lags behind in collective bargaining, and is one of the few countries in Europe that does not have the right to access a trade union.

“This is the issue of this general election, the Irish trade union movement. You can ignore it if you want, but you will hear it on our doorstep soon.”

Sharon Gill, a former 999 call center worker, said the company she worked for told workers that while they had the right to be part of a trade union, the company had no obligation to recognize it.

At an event to launch the report, Ms Gill described how her former employer’s response to her attempts to unionize left her feeling “demoralised” and “paralyzing fear”.

“I knew I was being watched. I was not free to talk to my colleagues. I felt like I was being watched too, even though I was having an innocent conversation about the weather.”

John, a shop assistant who spoke on condition of anonymity at the event, said he had worked at a multinational clothing retailer since the age of 16, averaging 30 hours a week.

He and a group of workers decided to join a union to call for a pay scale, more than three days’ notice of what their schedules would be, and improvements to their eight- or 12-hour-a-week contracts.

“From the beginning they immediately started destroying the unions, they did not want to recognize the union in any way, shape or form. As a shop assistant they came before me, I think, make an example of me.

“My hours were immediately reduced on the contract, so that is eight hours a week divided into two four-hour shifts. I got a second job at the bar so it would be the weekends and they found out when that was.

“Suddenly I was either scheduled very late for my four-hour shift on weekend nights or very early the next morning, just to try to conflict with that other job.”

He added: “One that sticks with me the most, because it still irritates me, was when they tried to discipline me for being two minutes late.

“Things like that also make you tense all the time, that had a very bad effect on my mental health, because I was afraid to go to work every day, because (I thought) what are they going to do to me today doing?”

The campaign calls for new “robust” legislation to increase collective bargaining coverage in Ireland, which is lagging behind at 34% compared to the EU average of 60%.

Sinn Fein Senator Paul Givan raised questions about whether contractors awarded government contracts should be required to commit to efforts to recognize unions and not engage in union abuse.

Independent Senator Alice Mary Higgins made it clear that Ireland had previously had tax relief on trade union membership, sending a message that the state supports trade unions as a public good in society.