The Committee considered whether Ireland’s limitations on labor rights of members of the military (such as the right to organize, the right to bargain collectively, and the right to strike) violated the European Social Charter.
The Department of Defence declared that it would genuinely account for the Committee’s holding in its review of the Conciliation & Arbitration Scheme in 2018.
Due to the Committee’s ruling, the Government of Ireland has taken initiative to address these issues. The Public Service Pay Commission (a commission set in place to advise the government in public service pay) asked for submissions from the military representative associations and were involved in recent pay negotiations that led to the latest revision of the Lansdowne Road agreement, an agreement regulating labor conditions.
For their contributions, special thanks to ESCR-Net member: the Program on Human Rights and the Global Economy (PHRGE) at Northeastern University.