The legacy of social partnership was one of low wages, increasing divisions and inequalities in Ireland, the ATGWU leader, Mr Mick O'Reilly, said at the publication of Celtic Tiger - The Myth of Social Partnership in Ire- land last night.
Written by a UCD sociologist, Mr Kieran Allen, the book says an increasing share of the national income has been going to owners of capital since 1987.
"Twelve years of social partnership have brought great benefits to corporate Ireland and the large multinationals," Mr O'Reilly said. "However, for ordinary workers it has only brought low wages, job insecurity and an ever-increasing gap between the cost of living and actual wages. The reality is that most couples, even where both of them work, cannot afford an average mortgage.
"Is this prosperity? Is it fair? Absolutely not. The trade union movement in particular must ask itself who benefits from social partnership. It is most definitely not our members, the low-paid and social welfare recipients.
"It is high time someone called a halt to this madness."
Mr Allen said social partnership was supposed to create a more caring form of capitalism, but in reality it had led to "a one-sided class war where gains have mainly gone to the wealthy".
"Between 1987 and 1997, the share of the national economy going to owners of capital has increased by 10 per cent while the share going to wage-earners, pensioners and social-welfare recipients has declined by 10 per cent."
Ireland had the highest proportion of its workforce classified as low-paid after the US. "Far from benefiting the poor, an Atlantic tax haven has been created where taxes on profits have been cut from 50 per cent in 1987 to 12.5 per cent in 2002."