The president of the country's largest trade union, Siptu, has said that it would be untenable to contemplate continuing with social partnership agreements if the Government failed to legislate for equal treatment for agency workers.
He was referring to a growing sector where workers are recruited and supplied by employment agencies.
In his address to Siptu's national delegate conference in Tralee yesterday Jack O'Connor also said that there was absolutely no point in continuing with the partnership process if it could not reconcile the objectives of maintaining competitiveness while simultaneously enhancing fairness at work and quality of life in society.
He said that he did not see how Siptu could support a referendum on the next EU treaty if movement was not made on rights for workers to participate in trade union activity and secure representation.
Mr O'Connor said that Ireland was only one of three countries in the EU where it was legally permissible for companies to pay agency workers less than regular staff.
"It would be totally untenable to contemplate continuing [with social partnership] if we are still one of only three countries in the entire EU which refuses to legislate for the principle of equal treatment for agency workers".
Mr O'Connor said that the objectives of the social partners appeared to be "increasingly divergent" these days. He also said that the union had begun internal consultation on its attitude towards talks on a new social partnership deal.
Mr O'Connor added that the right of workers to participate in trade union activity and to trade union representation was its key demand for the future.
"Denial of the right to participate continues for tens of thousands of workers, whom poll after poll reveals would wish to organise and be represented," he said.
He noted that the trade union movement had thought that it had made a minimal degree of progress in this area with legislation introduced in 2001 and 2004. However he said that this step had effectively been annulled by the Supreme Court in a recent case involving Ryanair.
He said that this ruling had further shifted the balance in favour of unscrupulous employers against vulnerable workers.
"This denial of the right to organise and be represented, despite 20 years of social partnership must be addressed. It can no longer be ignored", he said.
Mr O'Connor added that the union would consult widely on its position regarding a referendum on a new EU treaty. However, he did not see how it could support it if the issue of participation and representation was not addressed.
"This is especially so in the light of our experience with the Nice treaty and the Government's subsequent failure to strengthen employment protection before declaring an open border policy from May 1st, 2004."
Mr O'Connor also argued that the hospital co-location plan represented a strategic shift against the interest of ordinary citizens in favour of private enterprise.
Co-location, he added, had been marketed on the basis that it would released capacity in crowded hospitals. But he warned that the market forces would ultimately prevail. "The private side will flourish while public facilities will be gradually starved of resources because those who depend on them will not command the political influence to assert their interests."