REACTION:The Irish Small and Medium Enterprises Association (Isme) said it was "outraged" at the draft terms of the new national pay agreement, claiming it could result in "wholesale redundancies".
Ismechief executive Mark Fielding said: "The agreement will have a devastating impact on our sector of the business community."
He said it was “beyond comprehension” that Ibec had agreed to a deal with terms “far superior to what was on offer just four weeks ago”.
Mr Fielding said many firms had already contacted the association to say they “cannot and will not be complying with the latest terms agreed”.
He said the body had called for an emergency meeting with the Taoiseach to discuss in detail the impact and consequences of the new agreement on a sector that had been “ignored, overlooked and disregarded”.
The Construction Industry Federation(CIF) still had some concerns about the outline document and met the Taoiseach to discuss it this morning.
The director general of the CIF, Tom Parlon, said the body would be referring the draft deal to its members.
He said there were "positives and negatives" in the outline document drawn up last night and he expressed concern in relation to the pay element in an industry under pressure.
Asked if he would be recommending the deal to CIF members, Mr Parlon said he would be referring the proposals to them and letting them decide on it.
Hoteliers said the sector would be unable to pay the increases proposed in the agreement unless there is a “substantial improvement” in its trading environment
"The hotel sector is already committed, under the legally binding Joint Labour Committee system, on 16 October 2008, to a pay increase of 2.5 per cent - the final phase of the previous agreement," the Irish Hotels Federation(IHF) said in a statement.
“The first phase (3.5%) of the proposed agreement would be applicable from mid-July 2009. The effect of these increases will be that legally binding minimum wage rates in hotels in July 2009 will be 6.1 per cent higher than in July of 2008.”
It said this level of increase was “not sustainable in an industry in a market where the additional costs can not be passed on to customers in price increases”.
“Labour intensive sectors, such as hotels where wage costs are over 40 per cent of turnover, cannot afford any further wage increases until there is a return to growth in the turnover of the business to recoup these additional costs”, said IHF President Matthew Ryan.
General Secretary of the Irish Bank Officials' Association(IBOA) Larry Broderick said that "while some progress has been made on workplace issues, the outcome in relation to pay and collective bargaining has fallen short of our expectations."
“A three-month pay pause followed by modest wage increases worth just over 6 per cent cumulatively over a further eighteen months will not insulate our members against the impact of inflation,” he said.
“For workers in the financial services sector, this is particularly disappointing since – notwithstanding the current volatility on global markets – the major financial institutions in Ireland remain profitable,” he said.
“On the issue of collective bargaining, the provision to legislate to outlaw the victimisation of trade union members is a modest, if welcome, measure. In this straitened economic climate, we believe workers need more protection against exploitation.”
He said the IBOA’s Executive Committee would give detailed consideration to the proposals .
Chambers Ireland, however, welcomed the agreement saying it "would provide stability for the present challenging economic environment."
"Given that many companies are currently experiencing pay freezes, we remain concerned that the unions continue to seek excessive pay rises which may contribute further to the economic downturn," it said in a statement this afternoon.
However its chief executive Ian Talbot sounded a note of caution in relation to the national framework on the employment and rights of temporary agency workers. He said any measures introduced must not reduce labour market flexibility and Ireland’s competitiveness.
The Irish National Organisation of the Unemployeddid not comment on the agreement this afternoon.
A spokeswoman for the organisation said they were due at Government buildings at 4pm to be formally briefed on the proposed agreement and to conduct a planned review of the Towards 2016 social partnership agreement.