Irish Congress of Trade Unions

The Irish Congress of Trade Unions (often abbreviated to just Congress or ICTU), formed in 1959 by the merger of the Irish Trades Union Congress (founded in 1894) and the Congress of Irish Unions (founded in 1945), is a national trade union centre, the umbrella organisation to which trade unions in both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland affiliate.

Influence There are currently 55 trade unions with membership of Congress, representing about 600,000 members in the Republic of Ireland. Trade union members represent 35.1% of the Republic's workforce. This is a significant decline since the 55.3% recorded in 1980 and the 38.5% reported in 2003. In the Republic, roughly 50% of union members are in the public sector. The ICTU represents trade unions in negotiations with employers and the government with regard to pay and working conditions.

In Northern Ireland, Congress represents 250,000 members.

Structure The supreme policy-making body of Congress is the Biennial Delegate Conference, to which affiliated unions send delegates. On a day-to-day basis Congress is run by an executive committee and a staffed secretariat headed up by the general secretary, Owen Reidy who succeeded Patricia King in the position in 2022.

Phil Ní Sheaghdha of the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) became President of Congress at the biennial conference in Belfast in July 2025 succeeding Justin McCamphill of the NASUWT. The president serves for a two-year period and is normally succeeded by one of two vice-presidents.

Congress is the sole Irish affiliate of the ETUC, the representative body for trade unions at European level and of the International Trade Union Confederation ITUC

Social pacts Congress enjoyed unprecedented political and economic influence over the period from 1987 to 2009 under the umbrella of Ireland's social partnership arrangements. This involved a series of seven corporatist agreements with the government and the main manufacturing/services employer body IBEC and the construction employers' lobby, CIF (Construction Industry Federation). It was a classic European-style alliance of government, labour and capital built on six decades of voluntary employment relations regulated by state institutions such as the Labour Court.

For many years the union leaders agreed to dampen pay rises in return for regular reductions in income tax rates. They also negotiated a new system of pay determination for public service employees under the rubric of "benchmarking" using external assessment of pay scales for assorted grades.

The era of Christian democratic style corporatism also saw a dramatic fall in trade union density from 62% in 1980 to 31% in 2007 and consolidation through mergers of many affiliated trade unions. Efforts to launch recruitment and organising initiatives failed to secure adequate support from affiliated unions while attempts to secure indirect forms of union recognition through legislation collapsed after successful legal challenges and appeals by the anti-union Ryanair company.

Ireland's period of centralised 'social pacts' ended in late 2009 when the government imposed pay cuts of between 5% and 8% on public service employees. The joint-stewardship of the state's FÁS training and employment authority by Congress and IBEC and accompanied waste of public and EU funds and excessive spending on directors 'junkets' further weakened the public standing of Congress and its 'social partnership' structures.

In an assessment of the post-partnership situation, Congress general secretary David Begg prepared a strategic review paper in which he identified the increasing weakness of the Congress and individual trade unions being due to "recession and change in the balance of power with capital" as well as job cuts, poor organisation, especially in high-technology companies, and a growing rift between public and private sector employees.

On a more positive note Begg asserted that the ending of social partnership arrangements "liberates us to advocate and campaign for our own policies".

Other activities A "mass rally", organised by the Irish Congress of Trade Unions, Amnesty International, and the Rainbow Project in support of same-sex marriage in Northern Ireland took place on 13 June 2015 in Belfast, with a 20,000 person turnout.

Affiliated unions Association of First Division Civil Servants Association of Higher Civil and Public Servants Association of Irish Traditional Musicians Association of Secondary Teachers, Ireland Bakers, Food and Allied Workers Union British Actors Equity Association Broadcasting Entertainment Cinematograph and Theatre Union Building and Allied Trades' Union Chartered Society of Physiotherapy Communication Workers Union (Ireland) Communication Workers Union (UK) Connect Trade Union

Energy Services Union Fire Brigades Union Fórsa GMB Union Guinness Staff Union Irish Bank Officials' Association Irish Federation of University Teachers Irish Medical Organisation Irish National Teachers Organisation Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation MANDATE Medical Laboratory Scientists Association National Union of Journalists National Association of Schoolmasters Union of Women Teachers Northern Ireland Public Service Alliance National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers Operative Plasterers and Allied Trades Society of Ireland Prison Officers' Association (Ireland) Prospect Public and Commercial Services Union Public and Commercial Services Union SIPTU (Services Industrial Professional Technical Union) Society of Radiographers Teachers' Union of Ireland Technical Engineering and Electrical Union Transport Salaried Staffs Association Ulster Teachers' Union Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers Unison Unite the Union University and College Union Veterinary Ireland Veterinary Officers Association

Former members ACCORD Association of Teachers and Lecturers Civil and Public Services Union Irish Municipal, Public and Civil Trade Union National Union of Sheet Metal Workers of Ireland Prison Officers' Association (Northern Ireland) Public Service Executive Union Union of Construction, Allied Trades and Technicians

General Secretaries 1959: James Larkin Jnr 1960: Leo Crawford and Ruaidhri Roberts 1967: Ruaidhri Roberts 1982: Donal Nevin 1989: Peter Cassells 2001: David Begg 2015: Patricia King 2022: Owen Reidy

Presidents YearPresidentUnion1959Irish Transport and General Workers' Union1960Workers' Union of Ireland1961Amalgamated Transport and General Workers' Union1962Irish Union of Distributive Workers and Clerks1963National Union of Tailors and Garment Workers1964Vocational Teachers' Association1965Transport Salaried Staffs' Association1966Irish Transport and General Workers' Union1967General and Municipal Workers' Union1968Irish Transport and General Workers' Union1969Marine Port and General Workers' Union1970Amalgamated Union of Engineering and Foundry Workers1971Post Office Workers' Union1972Amalgamated Society of Woodworkers1972–73Irish Transport and General Workers' Union1974Workers' Union of Ireland1975National Union of Sheet Metal Workers, Coppersmiths, Heating and Domestic Engineers1976Irish National Teachers' Organisation1977Northern Ireland Civil Service Alliance1977–78Irish National Painters' and Decorators' Trade Union1979Local Government and Public Services Union1980General and Municipal Workers' Union1981Civil Service Executive Union1982Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers1983Federated Workers' Union of Ireland1984Amalgamated Union of Engineering Workers1985Amalgamated Transport and General Workers' Union1986Northern Ireland Public Service Alliance1987Irish Transport and General Workers' Union1988National Union of Tailors and Garment Workers1989Irish National Teachers' Organisation1990Amalgamated Engineering Union1991SIPTU1991–93GMB Union1993–95Irish Municipal, Public and Civil Trade Union1995–97Amalgamated Transport and General Workers' Union1997–99SIPTU1999–2001UNISON2001–03Irish National Teachers' Organisation2003–05Amicus2005–07Irish Municipal, Public and Civil Trade Union2007–09UNISON2009–11SIPTU2011–13Unite2013–15Mandate2015–17Northern Ireland Public Service Alliance2017–19Irish National Teachers' Organisation2019–21Irish National Teachers' Organisation2021–23Fórsa2023–25NASUWT2025-27Phil Ní SheaghdhaIrish Nurses and Midwives Organisation

Treasurers 1959: Walter Beirne 1960: John Conroy 1967: Fintan Kennedy 1982: Patrick Clancy 1985: Christy Kirwan 1989: Edmund Browne 1995: Bill Attley 1999: Jimmy Somers 2001: John McDonnell 2003: Joe O'Flynn 2019: Joe Cunningham

Irish Congress of Trade Unions

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