MINIMUM WAGE:THE TRADE union movement is to advise its 600,000 members on how their local TDs vote on the Government's plan to cut the minimum wage. The Irish Congress of Trade Unions said yesterday its priority after the Budget was to campaign against the planned cut of €1 to the minimum wage rate. Congress general secretary David Begg said there were no fiscal, economic nor employment reasons for the cut.
He said the only reason it was being implemented was to let people who employed those on the minimum wage to put the €40 that would be cut each week into their own pockets.
“All the stuff about this being in the national interest is a load of guff,” he said.
Congress has begun to lobby TDs about the minimum wage. In a letter to TDs, Mr Begg states that comments made on RTÉ Radio last month by Ajai Chopra, the leader of the IMF delegation to Ireland, revealed that the planned cut in the minimum wage was not a condition of its agreement with the Government. Mr Begg said the move to reduce the national minimum wage “was an entirely domestic initiative”.
“In our view, there must be some threshold of decency below which we do not go. The irony of this proposed legislation is that it will not create one job but will lead to a lot of forced displacement.”
Congress played down the prospect of a national strike proposed by the Unite trade union.
Mr Begg said no such proposal was received for consideration by its executive.
Congress president Jack O’Connor said unions would have to give a great deal of thought to any proposal for a national strike.
At a briefing yesterday, congress strongly criticised the Budget.
Mr Begg said provisions in the areas of social welfare and the minimum wage represented an assault on the structures of the labour market.
He said the ever-more draconian conditions meant “you cannot afford to reject any job on any terms whatsoever or your social welfare will be at risk”.
Mr Begg said that there was nothing in the Budget that would help the unemployment problem.