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Layoffs and the threat of AI: Why Irish tech workers are finally turning to unions
(www.thejournal.ie)
this post was submitted on 09 Mar 2026
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Technology
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They dont deserve it sometimes, I got a bigger raise cutting them out in January than they secured me.
I don't see how those are mutually exclusive. Where I live the guaranteed raises are negotiated by the work seller and the work buyer unions, but we still have individual salary discussions (which can be with or without union support, of course) where you can negotiate further raises. I've never heard of unions getting a cut from one's raise before.
Unions aren't supposed to be a they, they're supposed to be an us. They're workers joining together to be able to negotiate with buyers of work on more equal footing about everything that pertains to the work life. You might be able to get better deals individually for yourself, but you'll never be able to do things like negotiate down to a 4 day work-week for your entire company, or everyone in your sector by yourself. That's the work of unions.
Nah they are a them. They used to be an us but they are no longer related to the workers.
The company only enagages one union, the union chooses what is brought forward and what isnt, they negotiate wage increases and the company doesnt discuss wages outside of the union negotiations. Recently they halted union discussions because they have wittled them down to nothing.
My wage increase was worth less than what I saved by leaving the union.
That's not how it works here. Sounds like your unions are useless and need to be remade. We generally have large unions covering entire sectors. Some work better than others, naturally, they are human organisations after all. Ultimately, thanks to them we don't have things like a legally mandated minimum wage and such.
There's a big push among workers to make a switch over to a 4 day work week. Naturally the work buyers are pushing against that, but given that there's been way too long since any similar change has been made, and productivity has gone up as much as it has, it's long since due. Honestly, workers should be rioting in the streets at this point.
Did you conaider running to rep to fix that?
Its not run like that, I joined the committee and brought motions to conference.
This is always the thing, everyone presumes we didnt do eough instead of regulatory and union capture being a thing. The union is weak because it once was strong and got complacent.