The number of days lost due to industrial disputes fell sharply last year, according to the annual report of the Labour Court, which is published today.
The report says there were 10 industrial disputes last year, affecting 1,186 workers and 10 firms.
"The number of days lost to industrial disputes in 2006 was 7,352 compared to 26,665 in 2005," the report states.
It says that 65 per cent of the days lost last year were in the construction sector (4,769 days), followed by the manufacturing sector (1,114 days).
In 2005, there had been 15 industrial disputes involving 14 firms and 3,291 workers.
Labour Court chairman Kevin Duffy said that behind the picture of relative industrial stability there had been "noticeable changes" in the nature of its business over recent years.
Commenting on the report, Mr Duffy said 43 per cent of cases referred to the court last year related to complaints by trade unions that employers had breached registered employment agreements.
He said that as recently as 2001 such complaints constituted only 1 per cent of referrals.
He suggested that the surge in such complaints resulted "from a higher level of monitoring by the unions of compliance with registered agreements".
Registered employment agreements, which are provided for in industrial relations law, are deals on pay and conditions negotiated by unions and employers in an industry or enterprise.
Where the Labour Court is satisfied that an agreement complies with statutory requirements, it will register the deal. This effectively makes its provisions legally enforceable in respect of every worker of the class, type or group to which it is expressed to apply, as well as to employers, even if the worker or employer is not a party to the agreement.
The annual report says that at the end of last year, there were 45 such agreements on the register maintained by the Labour Court.
Areas covered included the construction sector and the electrical contracting industry.
Mr Duffy said the high volume of such cases had forced the court to introduce revised procedures. He said this should speed up processing of these cases by introducing more efficient reporting and vetting arrangements, which should result in more complaints being resolved without the need for formal hearings.
He said the number of cases referred to the court in 2006 continued at the same level as recent years, at more than 1,300.
Referrals under industrial relations legislation continued to account for the bulk of the court's work, Mr Duffy said, and in 90 per cent of cases the dispute was resolved on the basis of the court's recommendations.
