Fuel Protesters Left Unions Feeling "Upstaged and Under Scrutiny" - 22/05/2026

It’s amazing what a convoy of tractors and trucks on O’Connell Street can do…. At least, that’s what many union leaders must have been thinking after the recent fuel blockades.Last month a group of relatively unknown protesters got such swift and sizable results that they were surely the envy of any union official locked in talks for months with little to show for it.The protesters’ success may have left them feeling not just upstaged, but facing more intense scrutiny about what they are delivering for members as pay expectations are mounting.Unions and the Government appear more at loggerheads now than at any time since the recession.Not long after the fuel protesters emerged with a massive half-a-billion-euro package, the leader of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (Ictu), Owen Reidy, was keen to shift the spotlight to the 800,000 workers represented by unions in his organisation.Owen joined us on The Agenda this morning to talk to us some more about this. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.