Trade union density in the 26 Counties stands at a stark 22%, with collective bargaining coverage at around 34%. This is a catastrophic decline from the peak of approximately 60% density in the 1980s. Yet, this bleak picture obscures a crucial reality: there is a massive representation gap between actual membership and workers’ desire for collective power. UCD research from 2023 found that nearly half of all workers want a union in their workplace, a figure that rises to 67% for workers under 25. Ireland Thinks polling from 2021 and 2024 shows 74% of workers want the legal right to collectively bargain, and 75% want greater protections for union organisers.
The primary reason for this gap is relentless employer hostility. A survey by the ‘Respect at Work’ group of unions found that 69% of activists face employer hostility when trying to organise, with victimisation of representatives being the most common tactic. A University of Limerick study of union officials revealed even more shocking systemic resistance: 93% had seen members victimised, 82% had seen employers use union-busting consultants, and 63% had faced threats of plant closure or relocation if workers organised.
Unions are fighting back with some small, hard-won successes, but the scale is nowhere near sufficient to reverse decades of decline. To organise workplace-by-workplace against the structural power of global capital would require recruiting hundreds, if not thousands, of new organisers—an impossible task under current conditions. Therefore, it is inconceivable that unions can reverse their fortunes without leveraging state power. While we maintain a clear-eyed understanding of the bourgeois state’s class character, history shows that reforms benefiting our class can be won through organised, concerted struggle.
The government’s National Action Plan contains 22 actions. Some are corporate nonsense, such as Action #7: ‘Sponsor a Best Practice Award to recognise excellent practices in collective bargaining.’ However, others represent a critical opportunity to increase state support for collective bargaining and boost unions’ capacity for mass organising. The movement must focus its efforts on the actions that would most significantly strengthen its industrial muscle.
Unions should prioritise a strategic fight around the following key actions:
#6: Explore using collectively bargained agreements as a criterion in public procurement. This could powerfully incentivise union recognition.
#9 & #22: Develop a new Code of Practice on Collective Bargaining and review the Grievance and Disciplinary Code. These can set stronger standards against victimisation.
#10 & #19: Secure digital/physical access to workers and strengthen the rights of employee representatives. This is fundamental for organising in modern workplaces.
#11 & #18: Examine and strengthen Joint Labour Committees (JLCs) and Employment Regulation Orders (EROs). This is key for raising wages in low-paid, precarious sectors.
#13: Explore tax incentives to promote collective bargaining. This directly challenges the financial logic of union avoidance.
#15 & #16: Review the Unfair Dismissals Acts and examine legal protections for trade union representatives. This is the frontline defence against the victimisation that cripples organising drives.
It is easy to be cynical and declare that these reviews will lead nowhere. But the certainty of that path is ongoing union decline. A fighting strategy that mobilises members and allies to demand concrete outcomes from these actions could change the future for organised labour and the entire working class in Ireland.
This is not about faith in the state, but about a tactical use of state mechanisms to create a more favourable terrain for the class struggle. Winning these points would not end the fight, but it would provide the tools to fight on a much larger scale. The choice is between managed decline and a determined struggle for the right to organise—the very foundation of working-class power.
