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The Labour Relations Commission on Haddington Road in Dublin. Sam Boal/Photocall Ireland

What exactly is collective bargaining? A precise legal definition is on the way

The cabinet have agreed on plans to reform the Industrial Relations (Amendment) Act 2001.

A MORE PRECISE definition of what constitutes engagements between employers and trade unions is to be enacted by the Government to address a legal gap.

The cabinet have agreed on plans to reform the Industrial Relations (Amendment) Act 2001 and include a definition of collective bargaining which was the subject of a disagreement between the Supreme Court and the Labour Court.

Generally speaking, collective bargaining refers to industrial relations negotiations about pay.

In 2007, the Supreme Court found that the Labour Court cannot conclude that a trade dispute is in existence without first establishing that collective bargaining is in place and that internal machinery (if any) for resolving the perceived problem has been exhausted.

The 2001 act did not have a specific definition for collective bargaining and as a result the Supreme Court found that the Labour Court should have used the dictionary definition rather than the industrial relations concept.

The draft text of the new amendment has not yet been published but it is proposed that collective bargaining will be defined as:

Collective bargaining comprises voluntary engagements or negotiations between any employer or employers’ organisation on the one hand and a trade union of workers or excepted body on the other, with the object of reaching agreement regarding working conditions or terms of employment or non-employment of workers.

Other provisions

The drive to reform the act was pushed for by the Labour Party and was a commitment that was made in the Programme for Government.

It will also include provisions that will seek to help the Labour Court identify if internal bargaining bodies are genuinely independent of their employer.

Provisions are also to be included to ensure that remuneration and terms and conditions are looked at in their totality, with a limit on the frequency reassessments.

“In developing these proposals, I have been keen to respect the positions of both sides of industry,” Minister for Jobs, Enterprise, and Innovation, Richard Bruton said today.

They will retain our voluntary system of industrial relations, but also ensure that workers have confidence that, where there is no collective bargaining, they have an effective system that ensures they can air problems about remuneration, terms and conditions and have these determined based on those in similar companies and not be victimised for doing so.

The legislation will also seek to improve protections for employees victimised for seeking trade union support. The proposals point out that such victimisation takes several forms outside of termination including reduced access to particular work, training opportunities, shift work and overtime ect.

Read: SIPTU told to pay DAA and Ryanair’s legal fees over strike injunction >

Read: National strike of electricians could halt construction and manufacturing >

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11 Comments
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    Mute AA
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    Jan 28th 2014, 9:21 AM

    If you use apps that require access to your contacts and your bookmarks and your location and the other stuff… You cannot act shocked that this data is used by companies (and governments) to profile you. It’s the payoff for free maps and apps unfortunately.

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    Mute Tony Moran
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    Jan 28th 2014, 11:55 AM

    Agreed. Once you put your information out there – no matter what data protection or other such promises are made, no matter how safe they tell you it is – you are safer to assume that the whole world knows about it. Laws exist preventing anyone accessing your information without your knowledge or consent, but when it comes to governments and such powers you may as well wipe your backside with the paper the laws are written on because they will do whatever they want, regardless of what the laws say. You can take that as a fact written in stone.

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    Mute Col de Gal
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    Jan 28th 2014, 9:44 AM

    Bad piggies!

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    Mute James Murphy
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    Jan 28th 2014, 9:35 AM

    Nothing written here shocks me. If you use Facebook, Twitter or download games or movies, it’s more then likely going to be tracked by someone

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    Mute Stephen Ennis
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    Jan 28th 2014, 10:55 AM

    They couldn’t give us a hand with candy crush no ?

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    Mute why?
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    Jan 28th 2014, 5:05 PM

    117 – been stuck for weeks.
    I’d like to blame the NSA……

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    Mute Paul Furey
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    Jan 28th 2014, 11:26 AM

    Thats it then, the AL Ka-ee-da are finished. Thats how they caught Bin Laden you know. And the poor fecker had just collected his last golden egg!

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    Mute Kevin Quinn
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    Jan 28th 2014, 1:10 PM

    Are you one of these misguided person who think they caught Osama bin scapegoat

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    Mute Paul Furey
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    Jan 28th 2014, 1:24 PM

    Hi there! Jim Corr is it?

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    Mute Leo Massey
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    Jan 28th 2014, 1:13 PM

    App deleted

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    Mute why?
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    Jan 28th 2014, 4:18 PM

    Kind of puts their “targeted surveillance” nonsense to bed though, doesn’t it?
    I don’t think many terrorists play these games.

    According to Rovio, it may be the third-party Ad networks where the NSA/GCQH get their access.

    Either way, we’re all correct in saying “this doesn’t shock us”, but it’s also still illegal, immoral (they don’t exclude your kids from the dragnet….) and being done with “our” money (by which I mean mostly UKUSA tax revenue…..perhaps ours too though??).

    Would anybody not be a little pi$$ed off if your Govt was wasting money on this type of thing, regardless of the whole spying on everyone all the time aspect? It’s profiling, pure and simple.
    http://www.globalresearch.ca/nasa-and-britains-gchq-mapping-political-alignments-of-millions-of-smartphone-users-worldwide/5366496

    We can be both unsurprised AND angry. Just let’s not be dismissive. Or even worse, bored. It’s important.

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    Mute John Doyle
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    Jan 28th 2014, 2:07 PM

    This guy doesn’t write to movie stars he writes to movies.

    Dear Mad Max,

    Do you know Die Hard?

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