Home

Trade Unions & Trade Disputes

Our Employment Team are highly experienced in advising employers in relation to all Trade Union matters & Trade Union disputes.

Trade Unions in Ireland

There is a wide range of trade unions across Ireland, representing the interests of members, including the:

Teachers’ Union of Ireland
Energy Services Union
Independent Workers Union of Ireland
Financial Services Union
Communication Workers Union (Ireland)
Irish Taxi Council
Irish Postal Union
Prison Officers’ Association (Ireland)

The Irish Congress of Trade Unions ("ICTU") acts as an umbrella organisation to which all trade unions in Ireland are affiliated – there are currently 55, representing over 600,000 members.

Our Trade Union Expertise

Our Employment Team have vast experience of assisting employers in relation to trade union matters, including disputes. We have worked with many of the main trade unions in Ireland, and understand how to swiftly find common ground, to bring any dispute to a swift and amicable conclusion.

Our Multi-Disciplinary Expertise

As a full-service law firm, client's benefit from our multi-disciplinary expertise, where we collaborate with solicitors in other practice areas to provide you with expert legal advice and guidance which meets your needs. Our Employment Solicitors regularly liaise with our Corporate & Commercial, Property and Litigation & Dispute Resolution Teams as appropriate.

Our Partnership with Talbot Pierce

Lavelle Partners work with Talbot Pierce Consulting to provide a seamless service in respect of Human Resource Management.

Talbot Pierce are a team of specialist HR professionals who work with us on a range of matters including advice on and delivery of conflict/dispute resolution solutions, best-practice HR strategies, policies and procedures.

The Workplace Relations Commission’s ("WRC") Conciliation Service provides a voluntary forum for industrial dispute resolution. The model utilises impartial third-party Industrial Relations Officers of the Commission who chair ‘conciliation conferences’. Any agreements made between an employer and the trade union body representing employees is achieved by consensus – i.e. no decision is imposed by the third-party. Conciliation is deliberately informal and non-legal.

All employees have statutory employment rights, and trade unions protect these through negotiation with employers – referred to as Collective Bargaining.

For example, the Organisation of Working Time Act 1997, defines the statutory rights of employees in relation to rest, maximum working time and holidays. Under this Act, the maximum average working week in Ireland is 48 hours, and annual leave entitlement is 4 weeks each year. Trade unions may seek to intervene on behalf of their members if an employer is exceeding these statutory rights.

Collective bargaining, as defined by the Industrial Relations (Amendment) Act 2015 refers to voluntary negotiations between an employer and a trade union of workers, which seek to find agreement on working conditions. Underpinning such negotiations and disputes is a range of legislation including:

Irish Constitution 1937 (Bunreacht na hÉireann)
Trade Union Acts 1871 to 1990
Industrial Relations Act 1990 to 2015
Unfair Dismissals Acts 1997 to 2007

We’re here to help.

Fill in your details and we'll contact you.

Why Choose Lavelle for advice on Trade Union Matters?

Our Employment Team, headed up by Partner Marc Fitzgibbon, have been advising employers for over 35 years in relation to Trade Union matters and Trade Union disputes and have a strong reputation for excellence in this area of law.
Marc is ranked in Band 2 in the latest Chambers and Partners Europe 2024 Guide for Employment: Mainly Plaintiff.
We understand the need to ensure that trade union disputes are handled in full accordance with employment legislation and best practice, thereby protecting your business from the threat of a claim or reputational damage.
Our Employment solicitors will work alongside your in-house or external HR team, ensuring that trade union disputes are handled efficiently, with the minimum of demands on your resources.
As a full-service law firm, client's benefit from our multi-disciplinary offering and our specialist legal expertise across a number of related practice areas including Banking & Finance, Corporate & Commercial and Property.