The Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU) has said that EU membership has played a pivotal role in improving workers' rights and working conditions.
Today is Europe Day and ICTU has published a collection of essays by current and former trade union leaders reflecting on the impact of EU membership on workers’ rights.
ICTU General Secretary Owen Reidy highlighted benefits such as equal pay, the living wage for low-paid workers, a shorter working week, family leave and safe workplaces.
"But EU membership has not been costless for workers, nor has the Irish trade union movement always been enthusiastic about membership," Mr Reidy said.
"Workers and jobs paid dearly in the progression towards free trade competition when we joined the Common Market in 1973 and again in the conditions of the €85 billion bailout agreed with the troika in 2010," he added.
ICTU president and Fórsa General Secretary Kevin Callinan said that one of the earliest dividends from EU membership for workers was the ending of the marriage bar in the civil service.
"But the marriage bar still casts a long shadow in terms of reduced pension income for individual women and a gender imbalance in senior leadership positions throughout the public and private sectors," Mr Callinan said.
"The recently agreed EU Pay Transparency Directive will help close these gaps for this and future generations of working women," he added.
