Irish State will find it hard to turn its back on workers’ pay demands

A century ago, many ladies could hardly breath, what with those terrible tight corsets, writes Kyran Fitzgerald.

Since the onset of the financial crisis and the enactment of the so-called Fempi Act (Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest Act), resulting in the imposition of two to three rounds of pay cuts for public service workers, our State employees have been left with that choking feeling.

Incomes across the State have been battered, with negative consequences for retail spending. Over the past two years, the economy has embarked on a gradual recovery, with growth of 4% last year and similar progress expected in 2015. As a 3% deficit target approaches, thoughts among the public-service unions have increasingly turned to the question of pay restoration.