The Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, is hopeful that SIPTU, the largest trade union in the State, will shortly decide to participate in the second leg of pay talks under the current partnership agreement, writes John McManus in Killarney
He made his comments following a speech to the Irish Management Institute conference in Killarney at which he attempted to address some of the reasons given by the union for boycotting the talks. He said that, although maintaining the international competitiveness of the economy was the central issue for the Government in the negotiations, he was not arguing for the sort of "race to the bottom" in terms of labour costs that was feared by SIPTU.
"Competitiveness and social cohesion go hand in hand and it is essential that a balance is maintained between the two for the sake of both our economy and our society," he said in his speech.
His conciliatory comments follow the decision by SIPTU president Mr Jack O'Connor to attend informal discussions this week with Mr Dermot McCarthy, secretary general of the Department of the Taoiseach, which are aimed at kick-starting the stalled talks over the second round of Sustaining Progress.
Sources close to SIPTU said that they were studying the Taoiseach's speech and that the Irish Congress of Trade Unions was seeking clarification from Mr McCarthy about "ways of addressing the shortcomings in the agreement".
They are understood to include measures - such as more industrial inspectors - that will ensure that working conditions do not suffer as a consequence. SIPTU also wants reassurances that the spirit of the agreement, with its commitment to consultation, will be honoured. It has been angered in the past by the failure of some ministers - particularly the Minister for Transport, Mr Brennan - to consult with unions before seeking wholesale change at State companies.
Notwithstanding his conciliatory comments, Mr Ahern warned yesterday that failing to tackle the issue of labour costs would see jobs lost.
"There is clear evidence that far from maintaining labour cost competitiveness we are losing it. It is estimated that unit labour costs rose last year by 4.3 per cent and that they will rise by about 2.2 per cent this year, compared to just over 2 per cent and 1 per cent respectively, in the euro zone," he said.
The Taoiseach also referred to a recent report by the Economic and Social Research Institute, which pointed out that productivity in the economy would be considerably lower if the impact of a number of highly efficient multinationals were stripped out of the calculations.
Speaking to reporters outside the conference, the Taoiseach re-iterated the point. "Maintaining employment is about maintaining competitiveness," he said. "If we want to hold on to jobs our goods and services have to be sold internationally."
In his speech the Taoiseach told the conference that "things in Ireland are definitely looking up". Employment levels had held up during the recent downturn and the economy was predicted to grow by 3.3 per cent this year and 4.4 per cent next year.
"All of this is, needless to say, very positive and we should take encouragement from it. But complacency, as always, is the number one enemy," he said.
He said that some of the factors that will determine economic growth in the medium term were outside the Government's control. But the fall of 11,000 in industrial employment last year illustrated the "need to increase productivity right across the economy".
"As a country, we are never going to win the Lotto. We will never be able to sit back and let our earnings take care of us."
In this regard the Government had taken a number of new initiatives, he said. They included a review of the current regulatory regime and an examination of the "domestic and international scene with a view to reframing our industrial policy", which was being carried out by the Enterprise Strategy Group. He said the Government had also established the Forum on the Workplace of the Future to look "at how new models of work practices can enhance competitiveness".
