Union's warning over 'freefalling' industry wages
Wages in many industries are in freefall causing a fall-off in workers’ living standards, it was claimed today.
Michael O’Reilly, from the Amalgamated Transport and General Workers Union (ATGWU), said manufacturing wages were dropping below the rate of inflation.
“Wages in the industrial sector already tail the EU average by nearly 10%. Contrary to claims by IBEC and Government ministers, Ireland is a relatively low-waged country. Indeed, nearly one in five workers are officially categorised as low-waged by EU reports,” he said.
“This situation must be reversed. There must not only be a substantial wage rise in any new national agreement, there must be provisions for workers to lodge extra pay claims in companies that are highly profitable.”
Mr O’Reilly said this was the only way to reverse the race-to-the-bottom in living standards for hundreds of thousands of workers.
Figures from the Central Statistics Office have shown average industrial earnings rose by 3.1% in the year to December 2005. Mr O’Reilly said the current inflation rate was 3.3%.
The union’s regional secretary said in some sectors pay had been chopped with people in the food industry facing 50 cent an hour cutbacks. He said this was equal to a 5% slash in wages on an annual basis.
Another sector highlighted was the computer manufacturing industry, with some people’s pay dropping by 40 cents an hour.
“These two sectors alone make 30% of employment in manufacturing,” Mr O’Reilly said.
