Unions to seek ‘significant’ pay increases in private sector

Trade unions are expected to seek “significant increases” in the months ahead for members working in the private sector.

The private sector committee of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (Ictu) is to meet next week to draw up advice for its affiliates on pay.

The general secretary of Ictu, Patricia King told the biennial conference of the Technical Engineering and Electrical Union (TEEU) on Friday that the committee would be basing its advice in part on research carried out by the trade union-backed Nevin Institute.

Ms King said pressure was building in regard to private sector pay. She suggested that unions could be advised to seek “significant” increases for members in the private sector but did not indicate a specific figure.

Ms King also told the conference the Government had breached the terms of the Lansdowne Road public service agreement by accepting the Labour Court recommendation last week for gardaí which involved a package of pay increases worth more than €40 million.

She said public service unions would be meeting in Belfast on Wednesday to consider their position.

However she believed the majority of unions would want a collective agreement as a successor deal to the Lansdowne Road accord.

Lansdowne under attack

The Government will face further pressure over pay from members of the TEEU, who are expected to press for a new agreement and full restoration of pay cuts imposed following the economic crash.

On Saturday, delegates at the TEEU conference in Portlaoise will debate a emergency motion which states that the Lansdowne Road agreement "is no longer fit for purpose " in the light of recent events.

"Therefore conference calls for the executive through the public sector committee of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions to seek an immediate engagement with Government to agree a time frame for the complete unwinding of the (financial emergency) Fempi legislation and the complete restoration of all the remuneration lost by TEEU members in the public service as a result of the Croke Park and Haddington Road agreements," the motion states.

On Friday the Minister for Public Expenditure Paschal Donohoe said the Cabinet was "absolutely focused on making the right decisions in relation to public service pay" and that it would continue to recognise and support the Lansdowne Road agreement.

He said this was the reason there was now a Public Service Pay Commission in place. He said he was engaging with the public service committee of Ictu and would continue with that work.

Meanwhile, Government chief whip Regina Doherty said she was sure the Cabinet would discuss the issue of public service pay at its meeting next week.

On Thursday Siptu, the country’s largest union, effectively set the Government a one-week deadline to announce in principle that it would agree to talks on a successor deal to Lansdowne Road.

It said in the absence of such a commitment it would authorise ballots for strike action by members in the public service.

Siptu wants any new talks to commence by the beginning of next February.

Separately the director general of the employers’ group Ibec, Danny McCoy urged that public service pay should be governed by a collective agreement rather than reverting back to leap-frogging claims by different groups of State employees.

He said there was no appetite at present in the private sector for any overarching centralised pay agreement such as those that had existed in the social partnership era.