Rising pressure for an increase in pay packets

The economic indicators are turning up. Can upward pressure on wages in the private and commercial state sector be far behind?

Siptu general president Jack O Connor has talked of plans for a campaign to raise the wages of the lower paid, while the CEO of the Labour Relations Commission, Kieran Mulvey, has raised the prospect of a rise in the number of pay claims targeted at more successful firms.

The union leadership continues to argue that a boost to domestic spending from higher pay for low- to middle-income earners would produce economic benefits that outweigh any impact on competitiveness.