The employers' group IBEC has been irresponsible in recent statements on social partnership, a conference in Dublin was told yesterday.
National wage agreements had worked well over the past 15 years, and there was "no point disconnecting ourselves from the process [of social partnership]" before the process of negotiating the next phase had begun, the general secretary of ICTU, Mr David Begg, said.
Having delivered his speech to the Conference of Religious in Ireland (CORI)'s annual social policy conference, Mr Begg turned to address Mr Brian Geoghegan, economic policy director of IBEC, who spoke before him.
"I have to say I am disappointed by IBEC and its determination to keep the debate so sectionally focused on wages. Social partnership has never been just about wages as far as Congress is concerned anyway," he said.
"It has worked well for 15 years, and I think IBEC has been irresponsible in the past few weeks in what it has been saying."
In recent weeks IBEC has cast doubts on its future participation in any partnership agreement.
The current Programme for Prosperity and Fairness is due to expire at the end of the year.
IBEC has described it as a "a woeful experience for employers".
IBEC's director-general, Mr Turlough O'Sullivan, said in recent weeks that while partnership "was wonderful while it worked, maybe it has come to the end".
Mr Begg said such statements might well become a self-fulfilling prophecy, and if that happened "partnership would be dead before we have even begun to explore" how the PPF could be succeeded.
Mr Geoghegan said the challenge in looking beyond PPF was to "construct a process that can work effectively.
"This particular agreement has not worked for employers, partly because what we agreed has not been delivered on," he said.
Business costs had increased, wage costs had accelerated beyond other countries, and Ireland was in danger of losing competitiveness.
"Social partnership has served us well," he said, "but we have to face up to reality.
"Poverty remains a challenge in this relatively affluent society, as does the quality of many public services.
"If social partnership is to feature in helping to resolve these problems then some new thinking is badly needed."
