Protesting redundancy

Abstract

REPORT □ RESPONDINGTOTHE FINANCIAL CRISIS Protesting redundancy The Dynamics ofWorkplace Occupations in Ireland NIALL CULUNANE isLecturer atQueen's University Management School, Queen's University, Belfast. Ireland austerity recession has measures, that fallen has foul resulted many to a in resulting global unprecedented economic in job Ireland recessionthathas resulted in unprecedented austerity measures,many resultingin job redundanciesand firmclosures.In 2009, the numberof redundanciesstood at 77,001, an increase of90percent overthetotalin2008;itself a 60 percent increaseon 2007.Manyemployers demonstrated an uncompromising unilateralism in sheddingjobs. Managementalso rejected Labour Court recommendations on severance issues,orbegrudgingly offered minimum statutory entitlements. Irishunions have challenged employers, notso muchon thefact ofredundancy itself, butrather on attempting to securethe bestpossibledeal inseverance payandsupportingmeasures . Unionshaveresorted totheLabour Court forincreases insettlements already offered by employers or enhancedpayments on top of statutory entitlements. Strikeaction has been resortedto, althoughremaining at historically low levels. Withinthiscontextof challenging employer redundancy initiatives has been a noteworthy, albeit minority, protest response. This has revolved aroundworkplace occupations as a tacticto influence employer behaviour whenseekingredundancies . InIreland there havebeenseveralhigh -profile instances ofworker occupations occurringin instanceswhere the near total redundancy oftheworkforce hasbeenproposed, or wherethe employerhas soughtto execute redundancy withimmediate effect andwithlittle orno consultation. ResistingRedundancythroughOccupation Workplaceoccupationsare logical tacticsof protest in thefaceofemployer unilateralism on redundancies.The threatof strikeaction in responding to full-scale redundancies is a high riskstrategy: ifworkers refuse to workat a site an employer wishesto close,farfrom imposing losses,theymaywellbe accedingto employers' intentions. Occupations, on theotherhand,can prevent thetransfer of assetsout of theworkplace . Wherethe employer is in a positionto utilise suchassetselsewhereorsellthemoff, an occupationcan imposeeconomicloss.Thisloss mayalso extendto theincreaseddifficulties of selling off a workplace, ifoccupied.Occupations can also drawinthird-parties likegovernment or thewiderpublicpressurising employers intosettlements morefavourable thanwould otherwise occur.Occupationscan reversethe balance of advantagein redundancy scenarios, shifting the initiative away fromemployerstowards the workforce. Yetifoccupations areso effective whydo they notoccurmorefrequently? Workers facedwith redundancy rarely opttooccupy.Thelimited use ofoccupations might be becausethedemandsof organising and maintaining one are prohibitive. Occupations require comprehensivemanagementin terms of working out rotas,organising publicity, raising and distributing finance, transport ,meals, deputations and so forth. This is moredemanding thanstriking, whichrelieson inactivity exceptforthosein negotiations or on picketduties.Occupations arelikely torequire a degreeofmobilisation, organisation and dedicationwhichmaybe difficult to initiate orsustain. Workers maybaulkatsuchtactics inlight oftheir legal status.In manycountries occupations are unlawful becausetheyeither infringe on propertyrights or failto meetlegal requirements for industrial action.Giventherarity ofoccupations, wheretheydo occurhowever, and thevarious factors thatinitiate and sustain them, merit some consideration. The 2009 IrishOccupations In a ninemonthperiodof 2009,Irelandsaw a small but potentially significant outbreakof workplaceoccupations acrossa variety ofenterprisesina number ofindustry sectors. The characteristics ofthisoutbreak exhibited a number of shared featureswhich,when taken together, shedlight on themechanics ofoccupations. The first occupation occurred atthestruggling manufacturer Waterford Crystal inJanuary 2009. Here company'sreceivers soughtto unilaterally shutdownproduction withtheloss ofover500 jobs. A little morethana fewhoursnoticewas given to the long-standingworkforce.In response, over200workers proceededtooccupy thecompany's visitor centre, demanding theIrish government stepintosecureandassistpotential investors to retain manufacturing. The tactic was partly successful: government intervened in the disputeandopenedup negotiations betweenthe receivers,potentialinvestors and the unions. Overan eight-week period,workers maintained theoccupationin a bid to securea favourable outcome.In the end howeveran investment groupwas secured,althoughit soughtto outsource manufacturing and retainonly a small number ofstaff in services and sales.To secure agreement withtheworkforce, a €10million severancefundwas madeavailable. Justa week afterthisprotest concluded,an occupationbroke out at the troubledVisteon plantin Belfast. In thiscase over200 staff were informed by companyreceivers thatthe plant would shut down withimmediate effect with only statutoryredundancypaymentsbeing offered. Workers occupiedtheplant, holding out forsevenweeksin a bid to securea higher setINTERNATIONAL union rights Pa9e 6Volume 18,ssue 1201 1 REPORT□ RESPONDINGTOTHE FINANCIAL CRISIS tlement. In a effort to end theoccupation, management conceded a much improved deal, described bytheunionas 'tentimesbetter' than previouslyoffered.Notably the occupation spreadtotwoofthecompany's other operations in Britain whereworkers weremade redundant insimilar circumstances. The summer of2009thensaw workers at the international travel agency, ThomasCook,occupyitsDublinstoreswhenmanagement attempted to close operations withimmediate effect. A redundancy payment of fiveweeks per yearof servicewas offered to theaffected 50 workers. Fortyworkersparticipated in the occupation, seekingto improve thisto eightweeksperyear of service.Althoughmanagement served the workerswitha courtinjunction to vacate the premises,workersignoredit and maintained their protest. Theoccupation, amidst muchmedia and publicinterest, ended after fivedayswhen the police forcibly enteredthe premisesand arrested theoccupiers. Judicialleniency, influenced perhapsby the broadpublicsympathy generated fortheoccupation ,ensuredno imprisonments or finesfor individuals followed.The highly publiciseddispute subsequently...