Suspend the pay deal? SIPTU doesn't think so!

[pfkf]

Enda Kenny called last night for the pay deal to be suspended for 12 months as the country could not afford it in the current economic climate.

He said

"I am calling on Government and public service unions to implement a complete pay freeze for 12 months."

He went to say about the private sector:

"I am calling on private sector employers and their staff to review the terms of the wage agreement and ensure that no pay increases are at the expense of jobs. Wage restraint in the short term is preferable to job losses in the long term."

"If we want to be masters of our own destiny, we have to control our spending and ensure that we regain our competitiveness. Let's be clear on this: if we manage our finances prudently there should be no need for damaging tax increases that undermine our future growth."

For me this makes common sense, we must control our spending, by increasing wages we risk people losing their jobs.

Below is Jack O Connor's response to Fine Gael's proposal.


----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Siptu president Jack O'Connor has criticised calls from Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny to suspend the national wage agreement for at least 12 months.

Mr Kenny made the call last night in an address to his party’s national conference in Wexford, saying the pact was no longer affordable in the current downturn.

Mr O'Connor said the comments were "more of the ‘same old, same old’ from Fine Gael, attacking workers to shore up profits any suspension of the deal".

He described suspension of the pay deal as the "worst possible approach imaginable at this point in time", saying it would not only have implications for the living standards of ordinary people, but it could also worsen the recession and depress consumer confidence further at a time when demand needed to be stimulated.

Mr Kenny said last night the deal was negotiated in “a different context with different expectations” and would have to be put on hold if the deterioration in public finances was to be halted. He said the “painful truth” was the country could not afford the deal and “wage restraint in the short term was preferable to job losses in the long term”.

However, Mr O'Connor said the agreement had protection against job losses built in.

“With regard to the employment implications of the pay deal, the agreement includes a tried and tested ‘inability to pay’ mechanism to protect against jobs being lost,” he said.

The pay deal, which has been backed by unions and employers, will see workers gain increases of 6 per cent over the next 21 months.

Siptu president criticises calls for pay deal suspension - The Irish Times - Sun, Nov 23, 2008

[CookieMonster]

Well he wouldn't, would he?

Others: Something must be done, we all have to make sacrafices.
Unions: Yes we agree, but nothing other than what we suggest.

If Enda manages to get past this one, I will vote for FG.

[drbob1972]

for O'Connor to say anything else would be like expecting turkeys to vote for christmas. SIPTU's soul function these days seems to be to squeeze as much out of government / employers without any thought to the wider impacts........

[wombat]

Since he negotiated what he believes to be a good deal, its hardly earth shattering that he's against suspending the deal.
The job of a trade union leader is to get the best deal for his members. The job of Taoiseach is to look after the interests of the overall community, a slightly wider view is needed.

[Digout]

Kenny is correct, its now about cleaning up the FF created mess. The only way to do this is to manage spending properly. The FF way of dealing with problems was to pay everybody off, and look where that has got us.

The question now is, do ye want to freeze wages or do ye want to lose jobs, its a no brainer.

[PhoenixIreland]

What would that pussy know about workers? How many times has he thumped his chest on strikes then backed down? how many cosey wage control agreements did he sign in exchange for tax cuts that have now bankrupted public services?

He's all talk, ignore the clown.

[Digout]

would it be possible for a government do say, " its now time for a 20% cut in everything, i.e. wages, cost of goods, services etc" ?

this would go a long way to making us compeditive again.

[wombat]

would it be possible for a government do say, " its now time for a 20% cut in everything, i.e. wages, cost of goods, services etc" ?

this would go a long way to making us compeditive again.

Not really - a lot of our costs are imported - energy being the major one. Cross the board cuts are as bad as cross the board rises. We need focussed cuts but to make them, a govt. has to set priorities and take decisions.

[PhoenixIreland]

would it be possible for a government do say, " its now time for a 20% cut in everything, i.e. wages, cost of goods, services etc" ?

this would go a long way to making us compeditive again.

We can't be competitive by low wages.
High wages were never a big problem with our competitiveness, if we want to sort that out we need a new education system, a decent infrastructure and an emphasis on finding a tech niche in the global economy.

"Slash wages" is a lazy soloution that won't get us anywhere, it's as bad as the "cut corporaton tax" approch that got us in this mess, the problem with low wages and taxes is ANYONE can do that, it's not a unique advantage.

[cathal maguidhir]

SIP tu, needs to re brand its self as VERY LARGE SWIG FROM THE NEARLY EMPTY BOTTLE tu,,hold the line you chaps altogether now free market ,free market