IN IRELAND AND elsewhere, a new trend is emerging — young workers want to Unionise. This follows decades of a sharp decline of union membership as neoliberalism took hold of the global economy.
The elevation of trade unions as a catalyst for change and a clamour from young people to be part of a collective force for good is exciting and challenging, and unions are responding.
Recent UCD research said 67% of people aged between 16 and 24 years are positively disposed to trade unions. This underscores a significant and growing positive shift in attitudes towards trade unions in Ireland. This is a welcome breakthrough that offers real hope for the future.
This surge in support not only highlights a growing desire for stronger worker protections, fairer wages and improved working conditions, but young workers see unions as essential for navigating tricky workplace situations, guaranteeing people fair treatment and most of all, real respect at work.
In my role in the Irish Second-level Students Union (ISSU), I am seeing an increasing amount of young people wanting to be part of a wider collective on work, on community and on climate.
Young people can join their student council and join their national students’ union for collective representation in second-level schools – facilitated by the Education Act 1998. We can join a union in college that is recognised without question but when it comes to the world of work, young people are confronted with major barriers to collective representation.
Fear of discrimination and victimisation by bad employers for union activity is real. It happens because our legislation on workers’ rights is not strong enough.
This sentiment reflects the changing world of work, where bad jobs, poverty wages, underpinned by a housing and renting crisis, are pushing young people towards taking firm action to change the balance of power in the workplace.
For many young workers, a thriving economy has not translated into anything truly meaningful. This has to change and for many young workers that change starts in the workplace.
We are not only the most insecure and undervalued generation, but we are working under the weakest workers’ rights regime in all of Western Europe. Ireland is the outlier, and we are paying for it.
That is why Unions offer hope to young people and a sense of stability, Unions can be that vehicle of change in work. This is particularly appealing to my generation, who are facing such an uncertain future.
Beyond economic concerns, young workers want their voices heard on social issues like gender inequality, climate sustainability and a just transition in a world getting more and more dominated by unregulated misinformation online, concerning developments in AI and technology.
In my experience, Unions are leading campaigns for better pay and conditions, a better work-life balance for all, having proper mental health supports in place, and environmentally friendly policies that we as a society all stand to benefit from.
Recent high profile and successful unionisation drives in Amazon, Starbucks and McDonalds in America have shown young workers that collective action can achieve real change, even when the odds are so heavily stacked against them.
These victories in the face of big corporations are an inspiration and demonstrate the effectiveness of unions in improving working conditions, winning better wages and making a positive difference in the workplace.
The growing interest in unions among young workers in Ireland must be taken advantage of and is a hugely positive sign that a more equitable future of work is potentially on the horizon.
Most of all, it reflects my generation’s unwillingness to simply accept things as they are and our longing for a voice and vehicle to help us make change happen.
We need stronger legislation to protect us in our workplace.
We need a workplace where we are not afraid to express our views.
We need a workplace where our voice is represented.
We want and deserve respect at work.
Maeve Richardson is the National Student Voice Organiser for the Irish Second-level Students’ Union (ISSU) and a SIPTU member. A new Union campaign organised by CWU, FSU, Mandate and SIPTU called Respect at Work is launching today.
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