Economic partnership - Taoiseach yet to convince the unions

THE decision by SIPTU to defer a decision on entering talks on a new national partnership agreement could have serious implications for a process which has served the economy reasonably well for several years.

Significantly, the country’s largest union remains deeply concerned over what it sees as the steady erosion of employment standards, particularly among migrant workers. Basically, it remains unconvinced by Taoiseach Bertie Ahern’s assurance that such issues would be addressed.

With ICTU likely to back out of talks for the same reason today, the gun is being put to the Coalition’s head. Effectively, the Government needs to convince workers that issues of exploitation will be addressed in the next agreement.