Unions and employers appear to be on a collision course over payment of the once-off 1 per cent pay increase due on April 1st.
The Irish Congress of Trade Unions has advised members that they should take account of all regular payments such as bonuses or shift allowances, but a leading employers' representative says the agreement only refers to basic pay.
The 1 per cent lump sum was a cost of living adjustment to the Programme for Prosperity and Fairness, agreed in December 2000, to compensate workers for higher than expected inflation. About 550,000 ICTU members are entitled to the lump sum, as well as non-unionised workers who normally receive national pay awards.
The agreement, which was brokered by the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, says unions and employers should "negotiate a once-off lump sum payment equal to1 per cent of basic pay, as it applies in each employment or industry, to be implemented on April 1st, 2002".
According to new ICTU guidelines, published in this week's Industrial Relations News, congress advises members to negotiate the pay award at local level. In the event of a dispute, it refers unions to the definition of basic pay in the Redundancy Payments Act.
However, the director of employee relations at the Irish Business and Employers' Confederation, Mr Brendan McGinty, said last night that ICTU was undermining its credibility as a social partner by urging its members to make such claims. He said the PPF review referred specifically to basic pay.
IBEC "flatly rejected" the ICTU definition of basic pay. He also said the review required workers' continued co-operation. He conceded, however, that the terms of the review had to be applied in accordance with existing agreements at enterprise level.