The establishment of a "citizens' alliance" to tackle poverty, unemployment and housing issues, and to promote disability rights was called for yesterday by the president of SIPTU, Mr Des Geraghty.
In his final address to the union's biennial conference before his retirement in October, Mr Geraghty said the trade union movement must seek to build much closer alliances with voluntary and community organisations which had similar social objectives.
"We are all part of a natural citizens' alliance, united to overcome the limitations of our restricted resources," he said.
"Only such an alliance, well-organised and active on the ground, can adequately promote the values of equality and democracy against the ravages of speculators and the arrogance of the 'triumphant right' now dominating our lives."
The "new right", he told delegates to the conference in Galway, was in denial about the contribution of unions to the State's economic success, but was now blaming the slowdown on workers' wages and those of public servants in particular.
There was "not a word" from people on the right about "unprecedented profiteering by banks, insurance companies, financial institutions, consultants of all descriptions, multi-national corporations and employment agencies, and the great army of accountants, lawyers, investment managers and landowners all extracting exorbitant fees for their services".
Instead, competition was the "holy incantation of the moment and, of course, pay demands are excessive and leading the country to bankruptcy".
"These are the prejudices of the new right, the lame and cliched reactions of those whose power and privilege is always threatened by an intelligent and informed trade union movement. They are not true now and never have been."
The reality was that in 1987 the share-out of net domestic profit was 66.5 per cent to employees in wages, and 23.7 per cent to companies in profits and rent.
"Fifteen years on, in 2002, despite our best efforts in collective bargaining, the share-out came to only 50 per cent in wages and 50 per cent in profits and rents."
Workers rejected "with outrage" the view that wages were causing a recession or driving inflation, "and we are right to be outraged at the blatant bias and sloppy, self-serving analysis behind these assertions", he said.
Mr Geraghty described housing provision as "the most shameful scandal of my lifetime" and claimed the rapid increase in house prices could only be explained by corruption.
"The new landlord class - the squires of north county Dublin, the land-grabbers and rezoners and their accountants and lawyers, the sleazy politicians groping their way around this arena - all of them have had a licence to print money, corrupt the political process and fund the major political parties to do their bidding." The average house price in 2002 was €222,628, a €30,000 increase year-on-year from the average price of €86,304 only six years earlier. "No pay increases could begin to match that. It is a rip-off of exorbitant proportions.
In a wide-ranging address, Mr Geraghty attacked the "abuse" of work permits by employers and called for a change which would allow migrant workers, rather than their bosses, to hold their own permits.
"I am not proud of the role played by the Government and some employers who want to maintain the 'bonded labour' employment system, where they 'own' work permits, use them as a control device and exploit migrant workers as cheap, malleable labour without any form of protection or support.
"That must end, and it's more than time the Tánaiste, Mary Harney, acted on the problem and restored the rights and dignity of free citizens to migrant workers."
On pensions, he said SIPTU would support industrial action by members seeking to defend existing defined benefit schemes. The union would also work to extend pension cover, particularly in the private sector, and would insist on the appointment of more employee trustees.
