The Irish Congress of Trade Unions has called on the National Minimum Wage Commission to publish its report "at the earliest possible date". The commission was supposed to report by the end of last year, but the Tanaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Ms Harney, gave it a three-month extension.
A senior delegation from the ICTU met the commission yesterday to argue its case for a minimum wage of £5 an hour. This is the second time the ICTU has met the commission, and congress has made no secret of its concern that the commission members have so far failed to reach consensus.
The delegation included the general president of SIPTU, Mr Jimmy Somers, and general secretaries of Mandate and IMPACT, Mr Owen Nulty and Mr Peter McLoone. These three officials represent over half the State's trade unionists and the great majority of low-paid workers.
"Thousands of low-paid workers are being denied a fair wage and they should not have to wait any longer to get justice," ICTU general secretary Mr Peter Cassells told the commission yesterday. "Low pay is one of the black marks on Ireland's booming economy, which is often presented as a shining example of what partnership can achieve."
ICTU's assistant general secretary, Ms Patricia O'Donovan, told the commission that congress had sought a second meeting to impress on it the importance trade unionists attached to a minimum wage. "Far from weakening our position," she said, a wage of £5 an hour "will acknowledge the reality that there is no such thing as `unskilled' workers in a modern economy."
Along with union recognition, the establishment of a minimum wage has become a litmus test of the effectiveness of Partnership 2000 for many trade unionists.
The commission sought an extension of its deadline to report back to Ms Harney because of the sheer volume of submissions it received. However, it is thought to be experiencing difficulty in agreeing a rate acceptable to all commission members.