[https://www.irishexaminer.com/business/economy/arid-41143201.html](https://www.irishexaminer.com/business/economy/arid-41143201.html)

25 comments

  2. Unions good.

    When I was a temp in a financial company our union discovered they where dramatically underpaying us on overtime when we should have been on the same rate as full time employees. I basically got the start of my mortgage deposit from OT pay after that.

  6. I’m kind of surprised unions are much help in redundancies in these cases tbh – generally they give well beyond statutory redundancy payouts as market practice. Maybe that’s changed.

    You are dealing with very large companies here I suppose, any financial services company I’ve known to give redundancies just went straight to market tech/finance packages, with no negotiation needed.

  8. Unions are unfortunately very hit and miss. There’s a fair few out there who just take the easy membership fees. In my workplace the union is €40 a month and I can’t think of anything they’ve ever put their foot down on. 3% raise each of the last two years, incredibly weak

  11. Tech sector companies have been laying off people for the past 6 months like never before aswell ..

  12. Am glad as I do believe that management of people in the tech sector is absolutely awful. But I don’t believe that there will be a huge amount of uptake of it. I work in the tech sector, I have had colleagues in other countries who are in unions and a lot of family involved in trade unions so I have mixed views on them but overall they are a net good.

  14. Good on them. Although I’m not sure what good it will do them. Speaking as a former tech worker myself.

  15. That’s great but why didn’t they join a union years ago? When things are going well people look down their nose and say “I don’t need a union, I’m not a scrounger, I’m a hard worker.”

    This is a bit pathetic actually now that I think about it. Capitalism on the way up. Socialism on the way down.

  16. Article is a bit light on numbers and OP sensationalized the headline from the the examiner:

    >At the same time, unionisation among Ireland’s tech workers remained significantly low, with just 8% of workers part of a trade union in 2021.

    Not really clear if 8% represents the tech industry or 8% overall and no mention of what union rates were in 2021 vs 2022 for example to gauge an increase or a rate. I’m inclined to think the latter.

    >As tech companies recognise their power, so too are the workers. In 2018, the FSU was involved in just 40 companies, with this number more than tripling to over 140 in 2023,

    Over a half a decade of the FSU being in operation — this is modest growth from a low base rather than a large shift across the industry or suggestive of an exponential shift in trends.

    Whether you’re left and think this is wonderful or right and think it’s outrageous — the article seems geared towards clicks rather than informing me what actually happening with unions and Irish tech workers.

    My read is that this is a promotional piece for the FSU and the EU legislation makes sense in that it’s explicitly allowing Unions rather than forcing anything. God knows I’ve been plenty of times wrong before but I see this as maybe a little bit ‘non-news’ and more of an ad/PR exercise.

  17. unions can be good for workers but growth of a sector is far better. Hence non unionised tech workers earn more than unionised teachers.

  19. That’s all well and good, but unless the major tech hubs worldwide do, we’re just exposing ourselves to a slow exodus from the tech sector, so very much a double edged sword.

    Speaking with my French and Italian colleagues, France has had strong tech/engineering unions for years and many of the younger people hate it as foreign companies will do anything to avoid hiring a permanent employee as once they ate in, they are gold plated. So if the choice is hire in France or Ireland, Ireland will win currently. Be careful what you wish for and all that…

  20. People, irrespective of trade, are now realising, the World over, that “This isn’t Life” constantly under pressure! (Be very careful they don’t twist it into WW3) when the backlash happens!

  21. Unions are good. When I was leaving my last tenancy my landlord tried to add on almost an extra months rent and tried withholding half my deposit. One email later saying I was a member of CATU, the all-island tenants union and I got a reply saying it was an administration error and my full deposit was returned by the end of the week. Unions are good.

  23. Great to see, but what if you work for a company that flat out refuses to recognise or negotiate with a union?

  24. Workers rights are great but it isn’t black and white i.e. “Union Good, No Union bad”

    Unions often turn into a club i.e. look after their own often at the expense of new hires. There is often increased probationary periods, lower pay and generally worse starting terms for people starting out to make up the difference. All negotiated by the union to secure an extra 2 days leave in Summer or an extra 10% on a Saturday for the union members.

    There isn’t an infinite pot of resources. If Meta has a 30m budget for manpower/headcount they’ll still have a 30m budget after the union is formed.

  25. Our place refuses to recognise unions.. Even though the parent company in the UK is heavily unionised…

    Instead we have a committee that engage with management, but have no negotiation powers and aren’t allowed to discuss things with us until after the fact 🤷‍♂️

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