Date: Thursday 28th January

Time: 7pm

Location: Kirwan Theatre, Concourse

Motion: “This House Believes Trade Unions are an impediment to Economic Recovery”

With Ireland in the midst of a recession that surpasses the 1980s, it is no surprise that the harshest budget in 50 years has just been delivered. The country is still reeling from the shock of the Celtic Tiger’s departure and wondering where it all went wrong. In times of economic difficulty, one of the first groups to come under fire is invariably the Trade Unions.

And why not attack the Unions? Seen as greedy by a many people struggling to hold onto their jobs, Trade Unions took to the streets to protest a tightening of the belts that was reflected the nation over. When the country was trying to rebuild for a future, these groups sought only to protect their member’s paychecks – selfishly ignoring the sound of the economy crumbling around them. Surely, these Unions, whose role was to protect their member’s rights, are redundant anyway given the improvement in Labour laws in the modern era.

But these accusations don’t show the full picture. Unionised labour serves an important purpose, as without unions, there is no effective way to protect the rights of today’s workers from greedy corporations. The laws which we have today are a product of the work of unions in the past, and these kinds of contributions can still be made today. Labour Unions don’t want to profit at the expense of others they just want a fair share of the wealth being produced, thus ensuring that everyone can have a secure future.