Workers’ Rights

Strengthening workers’ rights is fundamental to social democratic politics. The Social Democrats are focused on empowering workers through supporting the growth of trade unions and improving workers’ rights legislation.

In recent decades the world of work has been transformed. All too often these changes have had a negative impact on workers in Ireland. Union density and collective bargaining coverage have fallen rapidly, while economic inequality has risen. For many workers, new digital technologies have intensified their work and enabled it to follow them home.

For many in low pay (disproportionately women, single parents, younger workers, and migrants) in-work poverty has become increasingly common. The current cost-of-living crisis has seen many workers’ real earnings and living standards stagnate or decline. For younger workers beginning their careers, various forms of insecurity are quickly becoming the new normal.

Many of the solutions to these problems are not overly complicated. Strong workers’ rights legislation and the provision of high-quality public services by the state are key to improving living standards for workers.

The most effective way to support workers is to enable them to join trade unions and represent themselves collectively. This empowers workers to bring about change from the bottom up.

Our Priorities on Workers’ Rights

• Introduce a statutory right to union recognition for employees in workplaces
• Equalise the Living Wage and the National Minimum Wage in the next two years
• Combat precarious working practices by expanding the scope of existing bans on zero-hour/if-and-when contracts
• Establish a Commission to research, trial and set out a pathway to the introduction of a 4-day week
• Expand leave entitlements for workers

Find Out More

You can read more about our policies and plans in our Workers’ Rights policy document, linked below.