Siptu: Stop impeding talks with progressive companies

Siptu president Jack O’Connor has said trade unions need to stop “impeding” the progress of companies that are willing to engage in collective bargaining which benefits their members.

At the Mother Jones Festival in Cork, Mr O’Connor said the concept needs to be “debunked” that “it is in some way our role to provide an antagonistic voice against management in those businesses and institutions which recognise their employee’s right to organise and be represented by trade unions”.

Mr O’Connor said that such thinking is fundamentally flawed, as unions’ task is optimise the quality and the security of members’ employment in those businesses. He added that unions should seek to enhance productivity and innovation rather than getting in the way of it.