Partnership talks expected to begin in coming weeks
Talks on a new social partnership agreement are expected to get underway in the coming weeks after being delayed due to the acrimony surrounding the recent Irish Ferries dispute.
SIPTU - Ireland's largest union - refused to enter talks on a successor to the Sustaining Progress agreement earlier this year until it received assurances about so-called 'job displacement'.
The move followed Irish Ferries' move to lay off around 550 seafaring staff and replace them with cheaper labour from eastern Europe.
The dispute over the lay-offs was eventually resolved when the Labour Relations Commission brokered a compromise between the two sides.
SIPTU is now expected to hold a special delegate conference shortly to decide whether to enter a new round of social partnership discussions, with a positive outcome widely expected.
David Begg, general secretary of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions, has said he hopes guidelines set out during the Irish Ferries row will form part of any new partnership deal.
"The National Implementation Body issued a statement which very comprehensively sets out parameters for discussions on this issue of exploitation and displacement and which is now accepted by government, by IBEC and by Congress," he said.
"In a sense, a good bit of work of a preparatory nature has already been done, so we should at this point be able to get to point where we can agree to start negotiations in the new year."
