IRELAND South MEP Mick Wallace has called on a Ringaskiddy medical equipment and devices company to allow workers to be represented by unions in negotiations.
Mr Wallace says he has written to the plant manager at DePuy Synthes, urging the company to deal with the union in negotiations on behalf of workers who are members of Siptu.
‘There are 450 direct employees on the DePuy Synthes site and a significant number of them are members of Siptu.
‘The union members want to be represented by the union in negotiations with the company, but the company continues to refuse to engage with the union. This has been going on for far too long,’ said Mr Wallace.
Mr Wallace said a Labour Court recommendation in 2020 advised the company that it should engage with the union.
He said workers have not been allowed to nominate health and safety representatives, or disciplinary and grievance matters representatives.
‘Ireland is the only country in the EU in which workers do not have the right to be recognised when it comes to collective bargaining. So this is a failure of successive Irish governments,’ said Mr Wallace.
‘I wrote to the plant manager to ask the company to respect the plant’s union members’ wishes in light of the new EU directive on the adequate minimum wage, especially Article 4 on collective bargaining, and Ireland’s deadline of November 15th this year to transpose the directive.’
The government has a deadline of November 15th to transpose the law the EU directive and in a reply to a parliamentary question Minister of State at the Department of Enterprise, Emer Higgins said her department has requested legal advice as to whether any legislative change is required to transpose Article 4.
