THERE is unlikely to be any successor agreement to the Programme for Competitiveness and Work (PCW) until outstanding pay claims and other issues have been "completed satisfactorily", the president of the country's largest public service union has warned.
Ms Edwina Jones of IMPACT also told delegates at last night's opening session of the union's annual conference that any new agreement must contain specific measures to address tax reform and unemployment.
"If central bargaining is now at risk," she said, "it is because of the failures of Government and employers. If there is to be another national agreement - and our heads tell us there must be, even if our hearts have some doubts - it must set aside fine words on unemployment, low pay and tax reform. In place of fine words we demand action.
"An economy based on unfair tax, high unemployment and low pay is not an option for this country. Our priority as trade unionists and our priority as citizens must be to build a modern, well paid and motivated workforce based on full employment and fair taxation," Ms Jones said.
"Unemployment is not just another economic indicator. Every single person on the live register is fighting their personal battle against poverty and despair. There is simply no excuse for this when we are consistently achieving growth of over 6 per cent a year.
On the issue of outstanding PCW pay claims, she said: "IMPACT entered the PCW in a positive frame of mind. To us, the deal offered a chance to make progress on the many real and genuine problems our members faced. And also to make a contribution to building better quality services for the public.
" But over two years down the line we have seen precious few deals done, despite some progress in recent months. Unless the business of the PCW is completed satisfactorily, it is hard to see how we can progress to another agreement.
Trade unionists deserved credit for their contribution to economic progress and stability over the past 10 years of national agreements, she said. She criticised the "myth" that public servants had enjoyed massive pay rises at everyone else's expense.
"The facts show that, over the last 20 years or so, pay in the public and private sectors has risen at about the same rate." Of course, IMPACT accepted that the country had to "balance the books" and set spending priorities. "But you can't get better quality public services with low pay, low morale and no possibility of promotion, no matter how hard you work."