Joanna Byrne: Demands Legal Right to Collective Bargaining
Joanna Byrne addressed the Dáil to demand a legal right to collective bargaining and workplace access for trade unions. Speaking for Sinn Féin and in coordination with the Irish Congress of Trade Unions, she urged the government to withdraw its counter motion and deliver stronger worker protections.
Joanna Byrne sets out Sinn Féin's call for a statutory right to collective bargaining through unions and for trade unions to have access to workplaces. She framed the motion as part of a broader campaign to tackle the cost of living crisis and to strengthen workers' rights and collective bargaining.
Byrne criticised the government for commemorating the 1913 Dublin lockout while continuing to deny trade union rights today, calling the counter motion an insult to workers. She argued that decades of debate have produced the same unresolved issues and challenged the government's priorities.
She highlighted that, despite employment levels, one in four jobs remains low-paid, insecure or lacking decent conditions. Byrne argued that a supposedly wealthy state should not tolerate workers experiencing such insecurity in 2026 and warned that budget surpluses mean little if the state does not invest to resolve these problems.
Joanna Byrne urged colleagues to reflect on the contributions in the debate, to support the legal right to collective bargaining and to allow unions proper workplace access. She framed the motion as a concrete measure to give workers fair pay, secure jobs and a stronger voice in the workplace.
Main demand
Joanna Byrne sets out Sinn Féin's call for a statutory right to collective bargaining through unions and for trade unions to have access to workplaces. She framed the motion as part of a broader campaign to tackle the cost of living crisis and to strengthen workers' rights and collective bargaining.
Criticism of government record
Byrne criticised the government for commemorating the 1913 Dublin lockout while continuing to deny trade union rights today, calling the counter motion an insult to workers. She argued that decades of debate have produced the same unresolved issues and challenged the government's priorities.
Scope and context
She highlighted that, despite employment levels, one in four jobs remains low-paid, insecure or lacking decent conditions. Byrne argued that a supposedly wealthy state should not tolerate workers experiencing such insecurity in 2026 and warned that budget surpluses mean little if the state does not invest to resolve these problems.
Consequences and next steps
Joanna Byrne urged colleagues to reflect on the contributions in the debate, to support the legal right to collective bargaining and to allow unions proper workplace access. She framed the motion as a concrete measure to give workers fair pay, secure jobs and a stronger voice in the workplace.
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Transcript
Minister, I'd never imagined that I, as a first-time TD, would still need to speak about workers' rights, rates of pay and fairness in employment. The phrase, a decent day's pay for an honest day's work, should have been long retired before 2026. This debate, that shouldn't even be a debate, has been around since before I was born, before my parents and grandparents were born. The points being raised here are the same points that have been raised for decades with just a few modern adjustments, such as the right to remote working. But then we have to remember who has been in government all of that time. It's crazy to think that you government parties have commemorated the 1913 Dublin lockout and lauded the bravery of the workers taking on the big businesses and 113 years later you're still denying the workers trade union rights. That is why this motion has been brought in coordination with the Irish Congress of Trade Unions, reflecting Sinn Féin's ongoing engagement with the trade union movement and as part of Sinn Féin's broader campaign to tackle the cost of living crisis and strengthen workers' rights and collective bargaining. Yes, there are a lot of jobs but one in four jobs are low-paid, insecure or lack decent conditions. The fear that those workers, and get this into your head, they are workers and what they're feeling should not be something anyone in this state should be experiencing in this supposedly wealthy state in 2026. It's easy to have a budget surplus if you do not spend money adequately and efficiently to resolve the problems in the country. Workers deserve fair pay, secure jobs and a stronger voice in the workplace. I doubt even the do-nothing government spokespeople could have a counter-argument for that. In order to support workers to organise and to facilitate greater trade union membership Sinn Féin and the trade unions are calling on the government to provide a legal right to collective bargaining through a union and to introduce a right of trade unions to access workplaces. Your counter motion here is an absolute insult to every worker right around this nation and I'd urge you to listen to the contributions tonight and reflect on that and withdraw your counter motion.