Thousands of atypical workers on individual contracts may not be entitled to have their rates of pay negotiated by their trade union. This is the possible outcome of a pay claim by 180 freelance provincial journalists.
The Labour Relations Commission is expected to refer the issue to the Competition Authority - for a ruling on whether attempts by the National Union of Journalists to renegotiate freelance pay constitutes price fixing - and to the Labour Court.
If the NUJ is found to be in breach of Competition Authority rules, other workers on contracts could experience difficulty in seeking the "rate for the job" agreed in collective bargaining.
Late last year the NUJ submitted the claim, just as the Irish Veterinary Union was reported to the Competitions Authority by the Irish Farmers' Association for alleged price fixing. That case is still under investigation.
The Regional Newspaper Association of Ireland told the NUJ it had legal advice that if it agreed rates with the NUJ it would be in breach of Section 4 (1) of the 1991 Competition Act that prohibits agreements which restrict competition.
The Irish NUJ secretary, Mr Eoin Ronayne, said that would effectively derecognise thousands of atypical workers.