Dennis Radtke MEP addressing the Respect at Work conference on the future of collective bargaining at the headquarters of the Communication Workers Union in Dublin on Thursday.
Measures like the EU’s Adequate Minimum Wages Directive, with its provisions for far greater levels of collective bargaining, he said, had been part of a drive to counter this drift, one that should be embraced by both the Government and employers in this country. “For the last 30 years everyone has said this is none of our business. We have one of the biggest low income sectors in all of Europe in Germany; 8.5 million people working for €14 an hour or less and 5.5 million working for minimum wage.
His comments were echoed by just retired Dutch MEP Agnes Jongerius, a former trade union leader who, like Radtke, has been a champion of the directive which says governments must promote collective bargaining where the number of workers covered by it is below 80 per cent. In Ireland it is currently less than half that.