REAs are legally binding agreements that govern the pay rates and other conditions of employment for all employees in a given sector.

A Supreme Court ruling yesterday, Thursday 9th May 2013, found the existence of such agreements to be invalid. The ruling outlined that a section of the Industrial Relations Act of 1946 (the Act that provided for the REAs) was incompatible with the Irish Constitution on the grounds that the agreements were not created by the Oireachtas (which has exclusive responsibility for creating laws in this country) but instead by the Labour Court – a Court that does not have the power to enforce the conditions contained within the REAs.

While this ruling came about as a result of an appeal brought by the National Electrical Contractors of Ireland (NECI) – the ruling will have massive implications for all sectors governed by REAs.

The electrical contractors who challenged the REA by which they were bound did so because they said that the REA was created by parties that did not represent the electrical industry as a whole. They felt that because they were not a party to the REA they should not be bound by it – they felt as though the rates of pay dictated by the REA were far in excess of what they could afford and that, for those reasons accompanied by the economic downturn, they were not competitive in tendering for projects. The group are said to be delighted with the five judge Supreme Court decision and say that they will be better able to secure existing jobs.

The NECI spoke out to reassure concerned workers that the problem was not so much that they had an issue with having some sort of wage agreement in place but that they felt they had the right to be involved in a decision making process if they are to be bound by the results of such a process. Any future agreement needs to consider and represent the requirements of both big and small employers alike and not just a subset of the contractors in the sector.

The NECI moved to reassure employees that their intention is not to reduce pay arrangements to the National Minimum Wage level (discussed below).

The Technical Engineering and Electrical Union (TEEU) stated that the ruling does not affect existing pay rates and conditions as they are set out in contracts of employment and the terms of this cannot be altered without consultation and negotiation.

Eamon Devoy, General Secretary and Treasurer of the TEEU said: “There are established Rates of Pay and Conditions of Employment in the Construction and Electrical Contracting Industry and any employer who attempts to undermine these standards will be met with the wrath of the TEEU who will use all means at its disposal to protect our members in the industry. It is worth noting that with the loss of registration the requirement for workers and their unions to go through national disputes resolution procedures was also extinguished and should the employers attempt to take advantage of vulnerable workers we could be in for a rocky road ahead”.

The NECI asked “that the inevitable scaremongering by the TEEU, who will claim that the Industry will descend into chaos, be ignored”.