Union gives thumbs-down to new national pay deal

THE country’s biggest craft union has given an overwhelming thumbs-down to the new national pay deal.

The Technical Engineering and Electrical Union (TEEU) voted by 87% to 13% to reject the agreement, Sustaining Progress. The union represents 37,000 workers.

The proposed agreement is set to give workers a 7.2% pay rise over 18 months. The TEEU is particularly strong in the manufacturing sector,

semi-State companies, local authorities and the health service. TEEU assistant general secretary Eamon Devoy said the result increased the chances of an overall rejection of the agreement at the ICTU Special Delegate Conference on March 26.

“It represents a major boost for the No campaign and also gives us a mandate to press ahead and secure the best possible terms for our members through free collective bargaining,” Mr Devoy said.

“The terms on offer are an insult. They would result in a 3% pay cut in real terms, after tax and inflation are taken into account,” he said.

The agreement is anti-worker and undermines the rights of trade unions, Mr Devoy said. The TEEU fears that any claims by workers for a pay increase will be viewed as a breach of the agreement.

“IBEC’s latest quarterly bulletin, with its talk of weak growth, is obviously geared at encouraging members to hide behind the inability to pay clause,” Mr Devoy said.

The TEEU last night urged all trade union workers to vote No.

This is the first time the TEEU has held a postal ballot of members on a national agreement.