The Workers’ Party has expressed concern at the position taken by the Irish Congress of Trade Unions in deciding to support the Lisbon Treaty, saying that Congress seem to have ignored what is currently happening in the private sector, in particular recent court rulings in Sweden, Finland and Germany in relation to the pay and conditions of construction workers.

Workers Party President and long-time construction industry trade union activist Mick Finnegan said that workers in the private sector are increasingly under attack, having to compete against workers who are employed on contracts which are drawn up and signed in Eastern Europe that can use EU regulations to pay their workers lower rates of pay implement lesser conditions of employment.

Mr. Finnegan said that the trade union movement should not be fooled by the Charter of Fundamental Rights which he described as a “toothless tiger designed to obtain union support but with no real foundation as a charter of rights”.

The Workers’ Party President said that there should have been wider consultation within the trade union movement as a whole and he pointed out that very many workers who are members of ICTU affiliated unions were bitterly opposed to the Lisbon Treaty.