Eight largest trade unions accept wage deal

EIGHT of the country’s largest trade unions have voted overwhelmingly in favour of accepting the new national wage agreement.

SIPTU, IMPACT, TEEU, IBOA, Mandate, NUJ, CPSU and INO all announced yesterday that their members were in favour of the deal, which sees staff in the public sector receive a 6% pay increase after an 11-month pay pause. Staff in the private sector receive the same percentage after a three-month pay pause. The payments are spaced out over a 21-month timeframe.

The votes mean all the country’s main unions apart from Unite have backed the deal and ensures the Irish Congress of Trade Unions’ special delegate conference on Monday will be told to give backing to the agreement.

As expected, public sector union IMPACT voted 91% in favour. IMPACT general secretary Peter McLoone said the agreement was capable of bringing an element of stability to an otherwise uncertain period and called on the social partners — Government, employers and unions — to meet soon after the ratification of the deal.

The Irish Bank Officials’ Association acceptance of the terms marked the first time the union has voted in support of a national wage agreement since the mid-1990s.

Union general secretary Larry Broderick said: “Although our members have many misgivings about both the pay and non-pay elements of the proposed deal — misgivings which the recent budget has done nothing to allay — they nevertheless recognise that in the current economic circumstances... the prudent course is to accept the terms on offer.”

Members of the Technical, Engineering and Electrical Union voted four to one in favour of acceptance. “The outcome obviously reflects members’ concerns at the economic situation and the damage that a free-for-all could do to job security and our competitiveness,” said the union’s general secretary Owen Wills. Finally, members of the Mandate trade union, which represents low-paid retail workers, voted 93% in favour of the deal.

Mandate general secretary, John Douglas, said: “Acceptance of this deal is a bigger sacrifice for low-paid workers than for most, but I do expect that when the economy returns to growth, this will be remembered and the social partners will reward these workers for their patience and sacrifice.”

The Irish Nurses’ Organisation, Civil and Public Services Union and National Union of Journalists also confirmed they had voted in favour.