Doubts on LRC ability to engineer €1bn deal

One of the country’s most senior public service trade union leaders has cast doubt on the Labour Relations Commission’s ability to engineer agreement between unions and the Government on how to cut the State’s wage bill by €1bn by 2015.

Shay Cody, chief executive of the Ictu public services committee and general secretary of Impact, said it would be in the interests of all unions to secure the best outcome in any process that the LRC recommends.

“However, it remains extremely difficult to see how the various positions of unions that voted to reject the package can be reconciled,” he said. “At this time, I do not think we can assume that the LRC will find scope to clarify or finesse the original package in ways that will both meet the employers’ requirements and win acceptance by unions representing a majority of public servants.”