Abandoning pay pacts would be madness

If it is impossible for the unions and employers to reach another three-year pay agreement, it is crucial that one of between a year and 18 months be reached in the interests of the country.

Neither side, and certainly not the Government, should entertain the alternative to a national, cohesive agreement which would be a return to the chaos of individual unions pursuing their own claims.

Despite the unilateral deadline that agreement be reached today imposed by Senator Joe O’Toole, president of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions, it would be folly to abandon the concept of national pay agreements.