Redundancy and workplace occupation: the case of the Republic of Ireland
| Date | 04 October 2011 |
| Pages | 624-641 |
| Published date | 04 October 2011 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/01425451111174102 |
| Author | Niall Cullinane,Tony Dundon |
| Subject Matter | HR & organizational behaviour |
Redundancy and workplace
occupation: the case of the
Republic of Ireland
Niall Cullinane
Queen’s University, Belfast, UK, and
Tony Dundon
National University of Ireland Galway, Galway, Ireland
Abstract
Purpose – This paper aims to examine the antecedent influences and merits of workplace
occupations as a tactical response to employer redundancy initiatives.
Design/methodology/approach – The data are based on analysis of secondary documentary
material reporting on three workplace occupations in the Republic of Ireland during 2009.
Findings – Perceptions of both procedural (e.g. employer unilateral action) and substantive (e.g. pay
and entitlements) justice appear pivotal influences. Spillover effects from other known occupations
may also be influential. Workplace occupations were found to produce some modest substantive gains,
such as enhancing redundancy payments. The tactic of workplace occupation was also found to
transform unilateral employer action into scenarios based upon negotiated settlement supported by
third-party mediation. However the tactic of workplace occupation in response to redundancy runs the
risks of potential judicial injunction and sanction.
Research limitations/implications – Although operationally difficult, future studies should strive
to collect primary data workplace occupations as they occur.
Originality/value – The paper identifies conditions conducive to the genesis of workplace
occupations and the extent to which the tactic may be of benefit in particular circumstances to workers
facing redundancy. It also contextualises the tactic in relation to both collective mobilisation and
bargaining theories in employment relations.
Keywords Sit-ins, Workplaceoccupations, Redundancy, Ireland,Industrial relations, Disputes
Paper type Research paper
Introduction
Since 2008, the Republic of Ireland has fallen victim to a serious economic malaise. An
over-heated economy, driven by a construction and property boom, has come close to
collapse. The construction sector, the backbone of the economy for near a decade and
accounting for close to 25 per cent of national GDP, suffered a reversal in fortunes as
banks were unable to lend and house prices fell. The knock-on effect was
unemployment and falling consumer spending. Financial institutions teetere d on the
verge of collapse as money tied up in bad debts to the property industry was lost.
Government finances haemorrhaged as tax receipts from the construction industry
collapsed. Added to this was a wider recession in global demand. In sum, these
developments brought an end to a 15-year long era of hitherto unseen economic growth
(McDonough and Dundon, 2010). Economic crisis sparked a wave of redundancies and
firm closures affecting both foreign and indigenous-owned firms. In 2009, the number
of redundancies was at 77,001, an increase of 89.6 per cent over the total in 2008, itself a
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at
www.emeraldinsight.com/0142-5455.htm
ER
33,6
624
Employee Relations
Vol. 33 No. 6, 2011
pp. 624-641
qEmerald Group Publishing Limited
0142-5455
DOI 10.1108/01425451111174102
59.5 per cent increase on 2007 (Central Statistics Office, 2010). One feature of
redundancies in this period has been the hard-line and uncompromising behaviour of
employers (Higgins, 2010). In a number of cases, employers have rejected Labour Court
recommendations on severance issues, offered much lower terms than in the past or
provided basic statutory entitlements only.
Although the full picture of employee and union responses to such actions remains
uncertain, indicative patterns have partially emerged. Evidence of employee passivity
and resignation to redundancy prevail, but so too have direct ch allenges to employers.
Contestation has not so much been on the fact of redundancy, but rather on the terms
and conditions of it, particularly on issues of severance pay and supportive measures.
Unions have sought the support of the national Labour Court for increases in ex gratia
settlements already offered by employers or for some level of enhanced ex gratia
severance payment after statutory entitlements (Higgins, 2010). In some cases, there
has been use of strike action (Farrelly, 2010a). It is within this context of resistance to
employer redundancy initiatives, that a noteworthy, albeit minority response, has
emerged. This is the use of workplace occupations as a tactic to influence employer
behaviour. In Ireland, there have been several high-profile instances of worker
occupations and the period 2008-2009 represented something of a minor “wave” of
workplace occupations across the island of Ireland. These occupations occurred in
instances where the near total redundancy of the workforce had been proposed by the
employer or where the employer had sought to execute redundancy and workplace
closure with immediate effect – and, thus, with little or no consultation with the
workforce.
The content of workplace occupations is explored further in this article. The article
asks what were the factors giving rise to such responses and how effec tive such actions
were in securing employees’ objectives. As will be indicated below, there are a number
of considerations which can be raised around workplace occupations which merit
closer scrutiny such as suitability in a redundancy scenario and ability to sustain itself
as a serious form of industrial action. The article draws on three cases of workplace
occupations that were deployed in Ireland, allowing us to examine antecedent
influences, form and trajectory of the tactic across different sectors, job occupations
and geographical locations. As such, the paper contributes to a re-emerging interest in
the phenomena of workplace occupation (Gall, 2010; Shantz, 2010), particularly
knowledge on why employees might seek to deploy the tactic and its potential utility.
The paper begins by discussing the relevant conceptual tools for analysing workplace
occupations. This is followed by outlining the methodology and case study settings.
The main descriptive findings are next presented. The paper concludes with analysis
of the main findings.
Reviewing workplace occupations
Workplace occupations have long existed as tactics of worker resistance in
employment relations. In Italy, after the First World War, a wave of factory
occupations in Turin became the centre of what was known as the “Two Red Years”
(Franzosi, 1995). Workplace occupations played a key role in the spread of unionisation
across the motor industry in the United States throughout the 1930s (Skocpol et al.,
1990). The dramatic Upper Clyde Shipbuilders occupation of 1971-1972 in Scotland,
marked a radical extension of the occupation tactic by extending into a “work-in”
Redundancy
and workplace
occupation
625
To continue reading
Request your trial