Dr. Alan Eustace wrote an article in The Irish Times and spoke on the Early Edition podcast and on The Last Word on Today FM. He gave an analysis of how, in a modern industrial society, strikes and trade unions exist to amplify workers' voices and support democratic engagement. He also answered to the general feeling that the public sector, which in Ireland accounts for over two-thirds of the country's unionised workforce, consistently offers superior working conditions. He argued that any benefits public sector workers have are hard-won through organising, collective bargaining, and sometimes strikes.
Rather than framing strikes merely as isolated inconveniences, strikes occur as a last resort when employees feel they have no remaining avenue to make their voices heard.
Dr. Eustace explains that many employers face staffing shortages, and "a strike is effectively all your staff shortages compressed into a single week or month." He explains that by "engaging in effective collective negotiation with their workforce, organisations can avoid both the need for disruptive strikes and the long-term attrition and disruption resulting from an unhappy workforce". While acknowledging the public frustration caused by service and economic disruptions, Dr. Eustace defends strikes as a legitimate, functioning democratic mechanism necessary to ensure workers' voices are heard, particularly given the modern challenges of organising a fragmented labour force.
To explore his complete analysis on why strikes and unions remain a vital democratic tool, please click here to read the full opinion piece in The Irish Times and click here to listen to the interview on the Early Edition podcast, to listen to The Last Word, click here (timestamp 50:50).