The government will offer the unions “clarifications” of aspects of the public service pay deal in the last week of April as part of an attempt to rescue the Croke Park agreement. The revelation came after Taoiseach (Prime Minister) Brian Cowen warned that if public sector workers did not sign up to the agreement, it could prompt strikes and industrial unrest which would lead to “lost productivity” and “further job losses.” Fresh talks will be attended by the government, the public services committee of the Irish Trades Union Congress (ICTU) and the Labour Relations Commission (LRC) which brokered the deal. Balloting is getting under way among the unions involved but it will be May before the final outcome is known. A number of unions have said that even if there is an overall majority, they will not necessarily be bound by the vote. The latest to take this line is the Irish Federation of University Teachers (IFUT), which is recommending a 'No' vote to its members. Earlier, the SIPTU general union called for some clarification of the agreement but argued for acceptance.
English: http://www.independent.ie/national-news/unions-offered-clarifications-in-new-bid-to-rescue-pay-deal-2152360.html;
http://www.siptu.ie/PressRoom/NewsReleases/Headline/Name,11494,en.html
For more information, please contact the editor Maarten van Klaveren, Amsterdam Institute for Advanced Labour Studies (AIAS) M.vanKlaveren@uva.nl. You may find further information on the ETUI atwww.etui.org, and on the AIAS at www.uva-aias.net. © ETUI aisbl, Brussels 2009.