Sharp fall in number and duration of industrial disputes

THE number of days lost to industrial disputes fell to their lowest level in a decade last year.

New figures from the Central Statistics Office show there was a sharp decline in both the number and duration of industrial disputes during 2006 compared to the previous year.

Industrial action by workers resulted in a total of 7,325 days lost last year, a 72% reduction on 2005 figures when the number of days lost stood at 26,665.

Only ten industrial disputes were recorded in 2006 involving less than 1,200 workers.

Although there is no breakdown on the length of individual disputes, it is clear from the figures that most industrial action lasted for only a short duration.

Despite the relatively high figures for 2005 due to the Irish Ferries dispute, the last few years have been marked by a period of industrial peace.

The number of days lost in 2006 is the lowest in the period since 1998 which saw several years of major industrial unrest including 1999 when over 215,000 working days were lost in disputes affecting over 36,500 workers.

Despite the low rate of industrial disputes last year, the Construction Industry Federation yesterday expressed disappointment that the majority of working days lost last year involved disputes in the sector.

The building industry accounted for 65% or 4,769 of the total days lost during 2006.

A CIF spokesperson said the figures for the sector were “disappointingly high in light of partnership agreements and registered employment agreements that preclude industrial action.”

The federation blamed workers in the brick and block-laying sector as the main source of last year’s industrial unrest.

The Building and Allied Trade Union, which represented bricklayers, mounted a number of pickets on building sites in 2006 over claims that sub-contractors were not paying legal minimum rates to their workers.

There were no disputes last year in several sectors including utilities, hotels and restaurants and education.