THE PROPOSED new national pay deal represents the best that could be achieved in the recent social partnership talks, a leading Siptu official has told the union's regional biennial conference in Tralee, Co Kerry.
Gene Mealy, Siptu's regional secretary in the southwest, said the proposals, which involve a 6 per cent increase phased over 21 months, reflected the perilous state of the economy.
He also said that the draft deal, on which Siptu will hold a consultative conference and ballot of members in the weeks ahead, also included "legislative changes to close exploitative loopholes in the areas of transfer of undertakings, the use of agency workers and the protection of union activists in hostile work environments".
"If this deal is accepted by the members we will hold the Government and employers accountable for its full implementation. No delays will be tolerated," he said.
Mr Mealy also criticised Taoiseach Brian Cowen for believing that he could carry the day on the Lisbon Treaty by "cuddling up to farmers and ignoring workers when it came to a legitimate claim for legal collective bargaining".
"Working people were rightly suspicious this time around of a treaty that was drafted in a climate where labour was expected to wait. Legal recognition of collective bargaining, long since the norm in Europe, is the very least Irish workers should expect if we are to be considered equal partners in Europe," he said.
Mr Mealy said that while it was right to oppose any move to reintroduce third level fees, the greatest scandal in Irish education was the erosion of free education for primary and secondary students. "For the vast majority of working people the cost of education equates to economic crucifixion in money for shoes, clothes and books and that new form of taxation called the voluntary contribution. Go without paying it and see how onerous life becomes for your child.
"Go without paying it and see how quickly the school buildings and facilities deteriorate," he said.
Mr Mealy described the state of the health service as a disgrace and criticised the Government's hospital co-location project which he said was a buzzword for privatisation. He also said the collapse of financial markets in Wall Street and its knock-on effects in Ireland are conclusive proof that greed should never have been allowed to become the cornerstone of our economic policy. Economic commentators who were long-time cheerleaders for the banks and speculators were now blaming the public sector for the country's economic ills, he added.
"The banks get bailed out but public sector workers get the blame. The message should go out from this conference. Hands off the public sector. Hands off taxpayers' money. Pay for your own greed," he said.