Private-sector unions are preparing to hit employers with a wave of pay claims in anticipation of there being no new national agreement.
Siptu, the State's biggest union, is to write to its 120 branches next week instructing them to begin drawing up claims for more than 50,000 members whose current deals expire at the end of December.
Other unions including the ATGWU, Amicus and the Irish Bank Officials' Association are also preparing claims on behalf of workers due to receive pay increases in the new year.
The prospect of a spate of pay claims will cause deep concern to the Government and employers, who argue that wage restraint is vital if the economy is to remain competitive.
A round of such claims is inevitable, however, given that the terms of Sustaining Progress expire on December 31st for workers in many sectors of the economy.
Formal talks on a successor deal had been due to begin this week, but have been postponed as a result of Irish Ferries' plan to replace up to 543 unionised seafarers with cheaper migrant labour.
Unions say they will not enter talks in the absence of Government guarantees on measures to prevent displacement of jobs and exploitation of workers.
With no sign of a resolution to the Irish Ferries row in sight, it is increasingly unlikely that partnership talks will begin before the end of the year.
In the meantime, Siptu is to direct its branches to convene section meetings of members to prepare pay claims to be lodged in the coming weeks.
A source said the strategy would be to draw up "realistic" claims with a view to vigorously pursuing them. Claims would be tailored to the circumstances of each employment and would address not just pay but improvements in other terms and conditions.
Initial claims by unions are likely to be well in excess of inflation and to target highly profitable employers, given that any early deals struck would be expected to set a trend.
Amicus national secretary John Tierney confirmed that this would be his union's strategy. The aim, he said, would be to select employers who were "in a position to do business".
Mr Tierney said a large section of the union's 30,000-odd members in the Republic, particularly those in financial services and manufacturing, were due pay increases on January 1st.
Many of the companies involved were going through change programmes, which put the union in a strong bargaining position, he said. "They are looking for something from us, and we will be looking for something from them."
He planned to hold a meeting of officials before the end of next week to begin finalising the union's approach.
ATGWU regional secretary Mick O'Reilly said his union would be lodging claims for "substantial" increases in pay and other improvements in conditions.
He believed private sector unions needed to co-ordinate their approach and adopt a common strategy.
A special meeting of the private sector committee of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions to discuss this would be held in the next couple of weeks, he said.
The ATGWU has traditionally opposed partnership deals, but Mr O'Reilly said it was too simplistic to describe the union as being against national agreements.
He had no problem with public service unions dealing in tandem with the Government, as an employer, but the "one size fits all" approach was not appropriate for the private sector, he claimed.
This argument has also been made by the Irish Bank Officials' Association, which last week signalled its intention to seek a 10 per cent pay rise for its members over two years.
One of the State's biggest private sector unions, Mandate, also plans to pursue its own pay strategy next year, even if there is a new national agreement.
Mr Tierney, however, alluded to a difficulty facing the unions if social partnership is to collapse after 18 years. Only two of Amicus's 15 full-time officials, he said, had previous experience of free collective bargaining.
Union leaders have had informal contacts with the Government since deciding last month to delay a decision on entering partnership talks. Substantive progress is unlikely, however, while the Irish Ferries controversy remains unresolved. The crisis deepened this week when the company rejected a Labour Court recommendation that it drop its plan to outsource crew. There was no sign yesterday of any fresh initiatives aimed at resolving the dispute.
