Fuel blockaders 'squeezed €500m from the public purse just like burger barons', says union leader

Ictu general secretary Owen Reidy said: "The Government’s handling of the recent fuel blockades has sent a very clear signal about what now works in terms of pursuing an issue in Irish public life." Photo: Sam Boal/Collins Photos

The trade union approach to pay bargaining will reflect “new rules of engagement” in the wake of the fuel protests earlier this month, the Government has been warned.

Speaking at the biennial Mandate Trade Union conference, Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU) general secretary Owen Reidy said that those involved in the blockades around the country managed to “squeeze €500m from the public purse just like the burger barons”, referencing the Vat cut for hospitality.

“The Government’s handling of the recent fuel blockades has sent a very clear signal about what now works in terms of pursuing an issue in Irish public life, and we in the trade union movement have taken note,” he said.

“The powers that be need to be aware that the trade union movement’s pay bargaining strategy over the coming months will reflect the new ‘rules of engagement’.” 

Mr Reidy said that talk of the need for fiscal responsibility when it comes to the next set of pay negotiations will be seen for what it is, calling it “just talk”.

He said that if the Government can find €1.25bn for those groups, it can afford a bespoke cost-of-living package for workers along with private sector employees.

Earlier this month, the Government unveiled a package worth €500m, which includes temporary cuts to excise on fuel to add to the previous package worth €250m.

Taoiseach Micheál Martin said the move represented a “significant response to real pressures being felt here and globally”, while Tánaiste Simon Harris said that he knew what so many households were feeling and that “as a government, we hear you, we have acted”.

In recent weeks, the Government has been clear that there will be a tax package for workers in the Budget this autumn, but public expenditure minister Jack Chambers warned ministers that “trade-offs and choices must be made”.

Furthermore, the Tánaiste has said work is underway to prepare additional options to help people reduce the cost of energy.

Mr Harris has said that there will be a tax package for workers in Budget 2027, which will be announced on October 6, but that the size of the tax package compared to the spending package will be determined as part of the Summer Economic Statement in July.

In his speech to delegates, Mr Reidy added that Ireland needs a new economic model to take it to the “next level”.

“A quarter of jobs in Ireland are poor quality jobs with low wages and weak terms and conditions of employment,” he said. “Central to [a new model] has to be the right to collective bargaining for all who want it, just like it applies in most of our European partners.” 

Separately, Mandate president Martin Mahony told the conference that it needs to recruit more to be in a stronger position to bargain effectively for better pay and terms and conditions of employment.

“With greater numbers, Mandate will be in a position to restore the proper balance of power between workers and their employers and restore meaningful respect,” he said. “Retail workers kept our communities going during covid but got nothing – apart from a few pats on the back – in return.”