ABSTRACT
Ireland is in the grip of the most serious economic recession in its modern history, which is having profound effects on the labor market and on the management of human resources. Trade unions charged with defending their members' pay and employment security face challenges without precedent in living memory. Other European countries affected by the financial, fiscal and economic crisis face pressures similar to Ireland's, but the Irish recession is among the most acute of all developed economies. The effects of the Irish recession on the manner in which people are managed at work and on how they are represented by trade unions is the subject of this study.
