Officials from the Irish Congress of Trade Unions will meet members of the EU/IMF delegation this morning to warn them against approving the Government's austerity plan.

I WATCHED with anticipation this week’s RTÉ programme in the series ‘Ireland’s Greatest’ because it was about James Connolly, the founder of the Labour Party.

THE Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU) has described as “utter nonsense” calls by IDA chief Barry O’Leary that wage cuts of up to 15% were required to restore competitiveness.

THE Irish Nurses’ Organisation (INO) yesterday pointed out that the number of people on trolleys around the country in June was almost 30% higher than in the same month last year.

The ongoing haemorrhaging of jobs from the Irish economy is set to top the agenda when the Irish Congress of Trade Unions holds its biennial conference in Co Kerry today.

The Government today defended its handling of the economic crisis as crowds gathered in central Dublin to protest over its impact on workers.

MEMBERS of one of the country’s top unions have rejected the draft national wage deal.

Taoiseach-in-waiting Brian Cowen has said productivity will be a key aspect of the forthcoming round of pay talks between the Government, trade unions and employers.

Taoiseach-in-waiting Brian Cowen has said productivity will be a key aspect of the forthcoming round of pay talks between the Government, trade unions and employers.

THE Irish Congress of Trade Unions is almost certain this morning to follow the example of SIPTU and vote in favour of participating in the new national pay and employment talks.

TEACHERS and lecturers will not accept changes to their working conditions being decided by other unions, the Teachers’ Union of Ireland (TUI) warned yesterday.

YOUR columnist Diarmaid Ferriter (February 21) has drawn attention to the argument advanced by Niamh Puirséil, historian of the Labour Party, that “social partnership could have become a reality much earlier if Fine Gael had not been so hostile to trade unions when in government in the 1980s”.

THE chairperson of the ASTI pensions committee, Bernadine O’Sullivan, commenting (Letters, July 16) on your report of the ICTU conference in Bundoran, highlighted the “very real cut” in lifetime wages arising because workers are being forced to accept defined contribution (DC) pension schemes instead of defined benefit (DB) schemes.

WHEN Ireland’s deadly dance with the spectre of suicide was first recognised officially as a ‘crisis’, a 10-year campaign was launched in a fanfare of publicity to prove the Government was serious about tackling an emergency that accounted for more lives than road fatalities.

YOUR report from the ICTU conference in Bundoran headlined ‘Young workers are conned over pensions’ (July 7) was most timely.

MAY I express my outrage at the Taoiseach’s callous remarks at the ICTU conference in Bundoran.

THE Government has been told by the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU) that its response to the Supreme Court ruling on Ryanair will be a litmus test for the future of social partnership in this country.

THE Taoiseach yesterday confirmed that the Government had sought no opt-out from the European Union Charter of Fundamental Rights and laid the blame for any confusion on the issue at the door of his “good friend and smart colleague” Tony Blair.

Taoiseach Bertie Ahern, is coming under fire today for a remark about suicide that he made in a speech to the ICTU conference in Co Donegal.

The Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern, is due to address the biennial conference of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions in Co Donegal this morning.

TEACHERS have repeated their calls for a review of the latest pay deal as inflation continues to erode the increases granted to public servants.

MEMBERS of two teacher unions are being urged to vote against the Toward 2016 social partnership agreement this week, although the deal is already expected to be endorsed by the trade union movement within days.

Ireland's second largest trade union is due to announce the results of its ballot on the new social partnership deal later today.

THIS evening Dáil Eireann rises for the Christmas recess, so it is time to announce the fourth annual Tallyman’s awards - my entirely subjective political prizes for ‘05.

I WELCOME the move by Galway Council of Trade Unions to have July 12 declared a national holiday “in recognition of the other traditions in the island of Ireland, and in furtherance of the peace process.”

The Irish Nurses Organisation has reiterated its criticism of the latest social partnership agreement ahead of an ICTU conference to vote on the deal today.

ONE of the country’s largest unions has voted to reject the new national pay agreement.

Members of SIPTU, Ireland’s largest trade union, are due to begin voting today on whether to accept the new national pay deal negotiated by the social partners earlier this year.

NOT one of the 10,000 affordable houses promised by the Government to low and middle income workers 18 months ago under the Sustaining Progress pay deal has been built.

The Irish Congress of Trade Unions has claimed that women are still being paid less than men in Ireland, despite 30 years of equality legislation.

AER RIANTA workers at Dublin, Cork and Shannon airports will down tools at 2pm on Monday for a mandatory meeting to discuss the decision to break up the national airports authority.

ADDITIONAL State- owned land around the country is to be made available for affordable housing, Taoiseach Bertie Ahern confirmed yesterday.

UNIONS have condemned Government plans to break up CIE and Aer Rianta.

Finance Minister Charlie McCreevy has accused Irish workers of being too complacent about pensions.

With private sector unions and farmers unimpressed with the contents of the proposed pay agreement, the result of any vote on a successor to the Programme for Prosperity and Fairness on March 26 would be a very difficult one to call.

The Irish Congress of Trade Unions is organising its first North-South conference to tackle racism.