Acceptance of pay deal still unclear

THE Government will not know until the start of November at the earliest, whether the social partners will accept the new national wage agreement it brokered last week.

The draft document which was achieved after 10 days of talks, saw unions and employers agree to proposals for a 6% pay increase in the public and private sector over a 21-month period.

The increase in the private sector was to follow a three-month pay-pause, while in the public sector an 11 month pause was agreed.