ANALYSIS:THE ANNOUNCEMENT by the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (Ictu) of a national day of demonstration in early November means the Government is coming under pressure on a number of industrial relations fronts before the budget.
Over recent years Ireland has enjoyed a remarkable era of industrial relations peace, largely as a result of the social partnership. However, the future of this process seems very uncertain, and the threat of widespread strike action across the public service would appear to be growing.
The country’s largest public sector union, Impact, is balloting 55,000 members in health, local authorities and the Civil Service for a mandate for strike action in the event of the Government introducing pay cuts or compulsory redundancies.
Separately, Siptu upped the ante in its dealings with the Government by lodging a claim for a 3.5 per cent increase on behalf of 34,000 members its represents in the health sector.
In addition, there would appear to be growing anger among more than 100,000 staff in the public sector who provide around-the-clock services over recommendations in the McCarthy report that there should be cutbacks in various payments and allowances. The strength of feeling among gardaí, nurses, prison officers and Defence Forces personnel on this issue was evident at a regional meeting in Sligo on Monday.
All of these issues involve public sector workers. However, Ictu is anxious to stress that its new campaign for a fairer way of dealing with the economic crisis is also aimed at involving the private sector. The Ictu strategy, initially at least, involves afternoon demonstrations on Friday, November 6th, and an intensive advocacy campaign in support of its 10-point plan for an agreed economic recovery deal.
Ictu wants Government action to deal with unemployment, private sector pensions and home repossessions. It does not accept the Government’s budgetary strategy for dealing with the problems in the public finances, and argues that this should be achieved over a longer period.
Ictu general secretary David Begg said yesterday it did not buy into the agenda that Government spending should be cut by €3-€4 billion next year. He described such a development as “too brutal, too soon”.
The march organised by Ictu last February, in which more than 100,000 people took part, was dismissed by some commentators as purely a public sector protest against the pension levy.
The planned demonstrations next month will – the unions hope – also show that discontent at pay and spending cuts, as well as general Government economic policy, is not just a public sector issue. There is no doubt that much of the impetus for the potential industrial action in the public sector has stemmed from strong hints that cuts in public sector pay could be on the cards.
Some union leaders contend that the Government perceived the relatively muted response to the introduction of the pension levy as a sign of weakness, and have pledged to fight further cuts even if only to retain credibility.
