“The constitution has always provided that absolutely you have a right to collectively engage and to be a member of the trade union, but the corollary of that, as defined in the courts, is that the employer also has the right not to collectively bargain.” From a ground floor boardroom in employers representative body Ibec, Maeve McElwee is warming to her theme —how Ireland’s traditionally voluntarist model of industrial relations sets it apart from the collective bargaining frameworks prevalent in much of Europe.  Long at the coal face of industrial relations as an employer representative at the Workplace Relations Commission…

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