Minister urges unions to ratify partnership deal

The Minister of State for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Tony Killeen, has urged unions to ratify the new National Partnership Agreement when they attend the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (Ictu) conference next week.

The new partnership deal, Towards 2016, which includes a 10 per cent pay rise for workers over 27 months, will be the subject of a vote at the Ictu special delegate conference on September 5th. Unions which are part of Ictu have been balloting members on the agreement over the last two months.

Some of the State's largest unions, including Siptu, with 200,00 members; Impact, which represents 56,000 mainly public-sector workers; the TEEU, representing almost 40,000 electrical and engineering workers; and INTO, the largest teachers' union with 27,000 primary school teachers, have already decided to vote in favour.

Unions are allowed send a set number of delegates to the conference, depending on the size of their membership. Although a number of unions have yet to complete their ballots, the percentage intending to vote yes at the conference has already hit the 50 per cent mark.

Although ratification will be dependent on the numbers of those intending to support the agreement actually attending the conference, a yes vote has been made more likely by the absence of Mandate.

Mandate, which represents 25,000 workers in the retail and bar trades, is one of the largest unions opposed to the agreement.

It intends to remain outside the agreement to pursue local bargaining with employers.

If the unions ratify the agreement, workers will receive the first 3 per cent of the wage increase from November 1st. This will be followed by 2 per cent from May 1st, 2007, 2.5 per cent from February 1st, 2008, with the final 2.5 per cent payable from August 2008.

By voting yes, unions will ensure the protection of all workers' rights and conditions, including previously vulnerable workers in the construction industry, Mr Killeen said.

"This is a comprehensive and co-ordinated response by all parties to ensure that all people working on such projects, be they main contractor or subcontractors, get the agreed terms and conditions while meeting requirements for competitive tendering and value for money."

Compliance by both employers and workers with the agreement would strengthen the economy, he said.