Coalition ministers clash over wage agreement changes
Enterprise Minister Richard Bruton faced down coalition partners by insisting changes to rules governing overtime and Sunday pay would lead to a reduction in the welfare bill by taking more people off the Live Register.
Labour ministers believe reform could lead to pressure on the social welfare bill by pushing more families into the poverty line.
Mr Bruton brought proposals on changes to the Joint Labour Committees (JLCs) to cabinet yesterday.
Following lengthy discussions, ministers failed to reach agreement on the proposals which will be discussed again next week.
Labour sources believe changes could be pushed out until after the summer but Mr Bruton has insisted that he wants to move quickly on the issue and expects agreement next week.
About 200,000 workers are covered by the legally binding JLC agreements which operate primarily in the hospitality, retail and security sectors.
The systems must be changed under the terms of the EU-IMF bailout agreement but the best method to do this has been the first source of division between the coalition parties since they took office.
Labour leader and Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore, said last night he was confident that agreement will be reached. “It will be reformed and the nature of that reform is something that the government has under consideration at the moment,” he said.
But he added that consideration has to be given to “the issue of the impact of any changes in the JLC rates of pay” and “any impact that would have on social welfare payments on the family income supplement”.
Mr Gilmore said any possible impact to the social welfare bill is “going to have to be factored in by the government in making its decision about how the JLC system is to be reformed”.
