A LEADING trade unionist has accused the Government of adopting a "minimalist approach" in new legislation for European Works Councils (EWC) which are designed to give employees a greater say in how their firms are run.
The national industrial secretary of SIPTU, Mr Des Geraghty, says the proposals "give a virtual carte blanche to employers to set up very questionable structures".
The Cabinet is expected to approve the legislation at today's meeting. It was due for approval last week but had been deferred because of pressure of other business.
The legislation is required to enable Ireland comply with the EU directive on EWCs, which comes into force on September 22nd. Any company with 1,000 employees and with at least 150 employees in each of two EU countries must set up an EWC representative of EU employees.
There are an estimated 1,500 companies throughout Europe which are covered by the directive, of which 300 operate in Ireland. Under Article 13 of the directive, companies can anticipate the legislation by setting up their own internal structures before September.
To do so they must consult all employees through special negotiating bodies, through which management and employees will agree structures for the works council. These do not have to contain union representatives. To meet the requirements all that is required of a company is that it provides information on its structures, finances and future commercial plans to its EWC.
The directive leaves it tip to national governments to decide if they wish to insist on a higher level of consultation and information.
It is understood the Government has rejected proposals from SIPTU and the Irish Congress of Trade Unions to do so. The draft legislation does not provide for a register of FWC agreements to be kept by the Labour Court.
Mr Geraghty, who drafted the SIPTU submission to the Government, yesterday said many EU countries employees already enjoyed greater rights under national legislation than was envisaged in the directive or in Irish legislation.
"The introduction of EWCs represents an important opportunity for the Government, employers and managers to put in place proper consultative mechanisms, Mr Geraghty said. "Every day of the week Irish workers are being asked to make sophisticated judgments about the future of their company and to support radical reorganisation and competitiveness measures.
"Lack of mutual understanding between management and employees has proven the weakest link during the present period of national agreements. People are heralding the advent of the `Celtic Tiger' but we have not established structures at company and enterprise level which enable workers to participate fully in decisions and in sharing the benefits arising from them."
Unions in other EU countries have expressed concern that if Ireland adopts a minimalist approach to EWCs then some international companies may designate their Irish operation as European management centres and use our legislation as the basis for meeting EWC requirements.