Union leaders demand meeting

UNION leaders have demanded an urgent meeting with Taoiseach Bertie Ahern after claiming that ordinary workers will bear the brunt of Government spending cutbacks.

David Begg, secretary general of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions, said the abolition of the first-time buyers’ grant, worth 3,809, illustrated how the low-paid were being targeted.

“We want to meet with the Taoiseach and the finance minister to put across our very serious reservations and concerns and to see what they intend to do in the Budget,” he said.