Private sector unions are to begin immediately lodging pay claims in excess of the rate of inflation following the breakdown in social partnership talks.
Claims on behalf of 55,000 SIPTU members, whose current pay deals expire at the end of the month, have already been submitted to employers, and other unions are to follow. Despite this, there were still hopes in Government last night that fears of the consequences of a pay free-for-all would bring both sides back to the table in the new year.
Meanwhile, the Government said yesterday it saw no prospect of movement from unions or employers on the stalled talks and had ruled out political intervention at this stage. However, while a spokeswoman last night raised the prospect of a partnership deal without any agreement on pay, the Government is expected to push behind the scenes in the coming weeks for a continuation of the pay deals that have run since 1987.
The Taoiseach yesterday expressed frustration at the talks breakdown, saying the negotiations had drifted further away from agreement during their final hours. He called on the parties to the talks to "reflect on the implications of failure to agree". He warned that while local pay bargaining could proceed on an orderly, responsible basis, "it can also produce significant disruption and conflict and, in time, competitiveness pressures of a different kind".
The Government spokeswoman said last night that if a pay agreement was not reached, the social partnership relationship could continue on a range of other policy areas.
As SIPTU lodged its claims, the 35,000-strong Technical, Engineering and Electrical Union meets tomorrow to plan "a pay offensive across industry", and says it will be seeking "headline deals" in a number of companies. Banks and financial institutions are also set to receive early claims, following a meeting on January 7th of the Irish Bank Officials' Association.
The ICTU council advised unions to submit claims on behalf of workers for whom the existing partnership agreement, the Programme for Prosperity and Fairness (PPF), expires at the end of the month. The PPF runs until next summer for public servants, but for many workers in the private sector it runs out on December 31st.
Congress also decided that unions in different sectors should co-ordinate pay claims, and meetings on how to achieve this are expected over the next few days.
Mr Jack O'Connor, the chairman of ICTU's private sector committee, said "holding claims", which did not specify percentage increases, had already been submitted on behalf of members of his union, SIPTU. These would now be activated, with percentage rises tailored to individual circumstances.