Trade unions will mark May Day today which is celebrated as International Workers’ Day.
A rally and march will be held this evening at the Garden of Remembrance in Dublin.
Ireland’s first ‘Trade Union Week’ began on Monday and includes a series of events to promote union membership.
As part of the campaign, the Government is being urged to prioritise the transposition of the EU’s Adequate Minimum Wage Directive, under which the State will be obliged to promote and facilitate collective bargaining in workplaces.
“We want to see the Minimum Wage Directive implemented as a priority to ensure all workers can enjoy full rights and legal protections, and to remove any barriers that exist around joining a union,” said Owen Reidy, General Secretary of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions.
Speaking ahead of International Workers’ Day, the Irish Secretary of the Unite trade union Susan Fitzgerald said Ireland is a European outlier when it comes to the right of workers to negotiate collectively through the union of their choice.
“This May Day, we must put the government and opposition parties on notice: 150 years after the birth of Jim Larkin, Irish workers cannot accept anything less than full collective bargaining rights and union recognition,” Ms Fitzgerald said.
Article Source: Trade unions to mark International Workers’ Day with Dublin event
