Union leader claims ICTU has failed on key issues

The Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU) was yesterday accused of failing to address key demands of Ireland's third largest union on a number of fronts in successive national pay deals.

Addressing delegates at Mandate's biennial conference in Ennis, general secretary Mr Owen Nulty claimed that in the view of many activists, ICTU has failed to secure full trade union recognition, the right to bargain, and has also failed to bridge the gap between low paid and those on higher incomes in successive national agreements.

"ICTU has also failed to have implemented a more equitable spread of the tax burden over all sectors of the economy to ensure that those who can afford to pay contribute their fair share, while it has also not secured the acceptance and implementation of family friendly policies in all workplaces to ensure a proper work life balance," Mr McNulty said.

With the conference theme "Partnership Under Scrutiny", Mr Nulty also claimed that the continued absence of full trade union recognition rights and the right to bargain raised serious question marks over the employers' and Government's commitment to social partnership.

He said: "Remarks by the Tánaiste and other members of her party in recent times give further cause for concern as it would appear that there is no longer a willingness to work jointly with the unions to maintain and advance the programme enshrined in successive national agreements."

Mr Nulty said employers were paying little more than lip-service to critical clauses in successive national agreements on such issues as improved family friendly policies.

Earlier yesterday delegates were told that lower paid workers have lost out in contrast to higher earners since 2000.

Presenting a paper, researcher Ms Camille Loftus said higher paid workers have experienced very significant income growth over recent years. While there have been real gains for low paid workers, they have been small comparatively, she said.

Ms Loftus's paper concluded that if social partnership was to play a useful role in making the transition to a fairer and more equal society then the living standards of low paid workers must be accorded a higher priority by policy makers.

"Of the four tax cuts considered, low paid workers benefit from only two of them - increasing tax credits, and reducing the standard rate band. In contrast, higher paid earners benefited from four different tax cuts in one budget," she said.

Delegates also heard that society is now increasingly polarised, as there has been a 300 per cent increase in income poverty among employees between 1998-2001.