TRADE UNION DESK: A force for good

While it may not set the public’s pulse racing, for the next six months, much of the Irish political system will be devoting itself to Ireland’s Presidency of the Council of the EU writes Owen Reidy, General Secretary of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU).

Opinion polls consistently show that Ireland has some of the highest approval ratings for the EU across all member states, with 82 per cent of Irish people approving of the State’s EU membership, according to the annual EMI EU Poll.

There is clearly a recognition from people across the political spectrum in Ireland that the European Union has been a force for good at home and abroad, not only in economic terms, but also in its driving of social rights and commitment to peacebuilding on the island.

Irish people are, overall, proud to be EU citizens, and long may that continue.

However, for many Irish people, the Presidency will be something that happens elsewhere, and, if they experience it at all, it will be through traffic jams and diversions around the country resulting from security measures, as government ministers use the opportunity to promote their own constituency to their European counterparts.

“The union movement believes that workers’ rights and the creation of good, secure jobs should be at the centre of Ireland’s Presidency of the EU Council.”

The need to prove its relevancy in the everyday lives of European citizens is an ongoing challenge for the EU. Much of the legislation that emerges is complex, often necessarily so, and couched in Brussels legislative jargon.

It is important, therefore, that the Irish Government uses the Presidency as an opportunity to show that the EU is continuing to support workers in their day-to-day lives. The union movement believes that workers’ rights and the creation of good, secure jobs should be at the centre of Ireland’s Presidency of the EU Council.

Ireland has an enormous responsibility over the next six months, chairing negotiations that will shape the lives of workers across this continent. A Presidency that focuses solely on ceremony and Ireland’s diplomatic standing will be a missed opportunity.

The Quality Jobs Act and the next phase of the Multiannual Financial Framework are both due for negotiation during Ireland’s presidency term, while the Traineeships Directive continues to await its final approval. This gives the Government a rare opportunity to embed job quality, strong collective bargaining, and workers’ rights into the EU’s agenda for years to come.

Take the Quality Jobs Act. Its ambition in tackling precarious work and strengthening workplace rights will only be as strong as the political will Ireland brings to chairing those talks.

Ireland’s Presidency is a chance to chair these negotiations in a way that delivers an ambitious piece of legislation, one that will deliver real improvements for workers across Europe.

The Multiannual Financial Framework matters just as much, even if it rarely gets discussed as a workers’ rights issue.

Every euro allocated to cohesion funding, to just transition supports, to skills and training, either reaches the workers and communities most exposed to economic change, or it does not.

That includes those affected by the shift away from fossil fuels, by automation, and by a more volatile global trading environment.

Through the Traineeship Directive, there is also an important opportunity to ensure that the European Union is supporting young people. EU data shows that 37 per cent of young Irish people received no financial compensation during their last traineeship, rising to 44 per cent across Europe.
With the cost of undertaking an unpaid internship estimated at least €1,028 per month in 2023 and prices having risen substantially since, millions of young people from working class backgrounds are being locked out of a range of careers. That is why the European Commission proposed a ban on unpaid internships through the Traineeships Directive.

But more than two years after its launch, the much-needed directive has still not received its final approval and the latest round of negotiations between representatives of the European Commission, Parliament, and Council due to take place recently were cancelled. The Irish Presidency is a real opportunity to get this directive over the line.

Europe is navigating a period of real geopolitical and economic instability, from trade tensions with the United States, to the ongoing question of how the Union supports its members through economic shocks without repeating the mistakes of the last financial crisis.

It would be easy for a Presidency to retreat into caution here: manage the calendar, avoid controversy, hand over the chair in six months having changed little. That would be a wasted opportunity.

The trade union movement, North and South, has long argued that a fairer Europe is also a more secure one. Strong collective bargaining coverage and decent minimum standards have allowed the European social model to deliver a stability few other regions can match.

An Irish Presidency that champions this model, rather than merely tolerating it, will leave a legacy that outlasts six months of ministerial travel and summit photographs.

We will be watching closely, and engaging directly with government, the Oireachtas, and our European counterparts, to ensure that happens.

The Presidency offers Ireland a chance to shape the direction of the European Union at a pivotal moment. Workers across this country, and across this continent, deserve a government that uses it wisely.

Owen Reidy has been General Secretary of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU) since October 2022.