NEGOTIATIONS BETWEEN unions, employers and the Government on a new national pay deal last night centred on whether an offer close to the 5 per cent increase rejected in July was still available.
Taoiseach Brian Cowen met trade union leaders and employers' representatives shortly after 8pm. He advised the parties that the world economic situation had changed even since the start of the resumed process nine days ago and urged them to be realistic in their approach on pay.
Up to late last night, no formal offers had been put on the table in relation to pay increases in the public or private sectors. Government sources indicated that there were significant gaps between the parties on pay. But union sources said any gaps were bridgeable.
Negotiations focused on whether the July offer was still available and if so whether it could be increased to 5.5 per cent for some workers, and 6 per cent for others. It is being proposed that the lower paid would receive 0.5 per cent above any standard increase.
The 5 per cent rise, proposed in July, was to run over 21 months. The talks last night were expected to centre on whether any new increase should be phased over the same period or a slightly shorter timespan.
Employers have sought a pay pause for the first time for private-sector workers, whereby the new rises would only be introduced in the private sector after a certain duration of time. This is a highly contentious issue for unions, however.
The 11-month pay pause for staff in the public sector, which was proposed by the Government in July, is expected to remain in any new deal.
Government sources indicated that it would not be offering any special package to bridge the gap between the parties on pay.
However, there was progress in the talks on the controversial matter of collective bargaining.
The new proposals would involve the issue of collective bargaining rights in non-union companies being considered in a new talks process of limited time duration.
The Government would introduce legislation at an early date, possibly by the end of the year, to ban victimisation of trade union members and prohibit employers from offering inducements to staff to leave unions.
In other areas of a possible deal, the Government indicated that it would enter into dialogue with employers and unions on the implications of a EU directive on agency workers and on recent controversial judgments by the European Court of Justice on labour issues.
The Government is also expected to introduce new reforms in relation to students from outside the European Economic Area working in Ireland and a quality mark system for schools involved in international education programmes.
Any new deal is likely to allow for the establishment of a new health forum and a framework for dealing with the report of the group assessing the OECD analysis on the public sector.