Originally Posted by
fmgc
It is a brilliant divide and rule tactic, the Union really wants to negotiate but is going to be encouraged not to by its own members.
It is not so much a brilliant tactic as a circumvention of the law. It is a union's primary raison d'etre to negotiate on behalf of its members. If an employment contract penalizes employees in case a/their union does what it is supposed to do, the contract infringes on the right of association and the right to have a union negotiate on one's behalf.
I have no doubt that the Irish judicial system will be able to discern such a circumenvention and I suppose that a contractual clause the sole purpose of which is to circumvent the letter (or even spirit) of the law will not hold in court.