Unions seek weekly pay increase for low paid workers
Private sector trade unions today demanded a €30 weekly rise for some 1.4m low paid workers.
The private sector committee of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (Ictu) also wants a basic flat-rate increase for workers to match inflation which stands at 5%.
The committee said it will issue guidelines for unions pursuing pay claims with individual employers in the aftermath of talks on a national pay deal which collapsed over the weekend.
The chairman of the Ictu private sector committee, Jerry Shanahan, said it will be up to union representatives to take control of each claim in local bargaining and to calculate costs and global issues affecting each company.
He warned higher increases will be sought from the most profitable firms.
“Workers have effectively not had a pay increase in the last number of months,” said Mr Shanahan.
“They will expect us to start lodging claims because inflation hasn’t stopped, price rises haven’t stopped, energy costs, food costs are all increasing. Workers are demanding pay increases to meet with those increases and to keep their pay in line with those and with at least the rate of inflation.”
Congress, the umbrella trade union group, said that of the country’s two million strong workforce, more than half earn less than €30,000 a year, with 1.4m full and part time workers taking home under the industrial wage of €38,000 a year.
The main areas pay claims were likely to be made in are financial services, food, drink and tobacco sector and manufacturing.
Mandate confirmed it would be calling for the €30 a week rise for its members working in retail, many who are paid €10 an hour.
Siptu’s Jack O’Connor said he hoped the collapse of the talks and upcoming bargaining would not lead to strikes and walk outs.
“We set out with a view to concluding agreements with employers that would secure people’s living standards, pay increases, and also secure jobs,” he said.
“The question on weather we end up with a series of industrial disputes is in the hands of the employers.”
The strategy for troubled negotiations on pay claims and working conditions was revealed after the Government and unions failed to reach an agreement on a national pay deal.
The final proposal offered to unions included a six month pay pause, followed by a 2.5% pay increase for six months, and a further 2.5% for nine months.
The refusal to accept the deal was another headache for Taoiseach Brian Cowen and his political colleagues after official figures published yesterday show the amount of money the Government collected in tax in July was €776m below its expectations for the month, with consumer spending blamed for the dramatic drop.
Elsewhere, the labour market suffered more than 20,000 redundancies since the start of the year, while almost 240,000 people are signing on the Live Register.
Consumer sentiment was also recorded at an all time low today, as higher interest rates and budget cutbacks made consumers more gloomy about the outlook for their personal finances.
