Unite the union beat a strike injunction this week in the Supreme Court. This is a landmark finding for fighting trade unionists after a tense year-long fight. They were vindicated. No injunction should have been granted. Unite’s members were right to strike.
The five judges found that Unite was absolutely correct in taking strike action – including how they conducted the strike action last March which put pickets on Intel and Pfizer sites west of Dublin – in their ongoing dispute with Jones Engineering.
People Before Profit reps were out supporting Unite’s pickets in Leixlip in March 2023 and we remain 100% with the workers.
Fighters in the trade union movement can see this as a signal to move away from the partnership and sweetheart deals strategies which avoid fights only to see members lose ground and unions lose members. We need unions to fight and this judgement vindicates a fighting strategy.
The Unite members on these sites took the fight to the employers instead of the bringing the financial hit home. It was a point of principle that Unite was standing over: their members had voted to strike on travel time which had been excluded from recent deals. Members wanted that addressed. The employers said no – even though it had been a long-standing part of their pay. So workers were further out of pocket while employers raked in profits. They balloted and struck.
Unite could have discouraged the strike by advising against action or saying it could cost the union money, but instead they backed the workers. More than that once injuncted they took the employers to court to challenge them. It took 12 months and they could have lost. It would have stacked up a hefty legal bill – but they were proven right. Their principles were right. They’ve been handed a landmark win for the entire trade union movement in the south.
Workers are right to strike when they see their terms and conditions pay and security drop. The decision vindicates that statement and it should be held up by trade union members north and south in all unions as a marker for change.
Members can answer officials who are hesitant to strike citing this Supreme Court outcome because ultimately workers’ right to take strike action that is our best tool for forcing action, including pay increases. This judgement makes that even clearer.
Tom Fitzgerald of Unite said: ‘This now clearly ends any ambiguity around the right to strike once unions ensure they comply with their obligations under the [1990 Industrial Relations] Act.’
Judges said that the 1990 Act gives the Oireachtas the right to regulate trade union activity under Article 40.6.1 of the Constitution. One said courts “should not readily circumvent or frustrate this right.”
The judges also noted that the right to take industrial action must be safeguarded, so that the constitutional right to associate and form a trade union is given real meaning citing the constitution’s article 40.6.1.3 about individual rights to form associations and trade unions.
Well done. Keep up the fight.
