Irish unity as a path to equality in wages: Effects of the social partnership agreement years in Ireland

After 20 years of social partnership in Ireland, this study aims to use a national survey of firms and employees to examine the extent of the wage gap between union and non-union workers in the private sector and to compare the degree of wage inequality in union and non-union firms and among union and non-union employees.

This study is based on Ireland’s National Employment Survey carried out by the Central Statistics Office in October 2008, for which almost 5,000 enterprises responded.

Over time, the earnings premium enjoyed by unionized workers has declined.

This paper provides employer/employee matched data from a robust national level survey together with measures of union membership, earnings, individual and employment characteristics.