The new National Agreement received its first blow last night, even before the negotiators could finish their work.
The ATGWU, the second largest affiliate of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions, has recommended rejection of the deal. The move comes ahead of today's plenary session to finalise the negotiations, which will be attended by the Taoiseach, the Tanaiste and the Minister for Finance.
The ATGWU executive met over the weekend and agreed to recommend a rejection of the deal.
"This agreement just does not give workers their fair share of the wealth that they created," union regional secretary, Mr Mick O'Reilly, said. "The percentage increases in the deal are totally inadequate to meet the real costs facing workers now and in the future."
The actual wage increase on offer represented 6.4 per cent after inflation, he noted. With interest rates starting to rise again the net benefit to workers out of this deal would be minuscule.
"Trade unionists should consider the deal most carefully, and look beyond the distortions and half-truths circulating about this deal," Mr O'Reilly said.
Meanwhile, it appears that social welfare recipients and people with three or more children could be among the first major beneficiaries of the booming economy, under the £1.5 billion social inclusion deal.
The agreement being negotiated between the social partners and the Government commits itself to a target of £100 a week for the lowest social welfare payments, compared to the current rate of £76, and £100 a month in child benefit for the third and subsequent children over the lifetime of the deal (now at £56).
However, progress in increasing these payments will be accelerated if annual economic growth exceeds the predicted 5.6 per cent. These social-inclusion policies will be given first call in the event of stronger economic growth. The community and voluntary pillar which negotiated this section of the agreement is confident that rapid progress will be seen.
The £1.5 billion package of measures will play a major role in fighting poverty and closing the gap between the rich and the poor, community and voluntary campaigners predicted.
Key elements of the package include:
a £200 million social inclusion package on housing, education and training, health, equality, disability and the Traveller community;
targeted investment to target specific problems in 25 of Ireland's most disadvantaged communities;
a commitment that each year's Budget tax package will be poverty-proofed.
The Irish National Organisation of the Unemployed welcomed the agreement's commitment to social inclusion through employment and the effective elimination of long-term unemployment.
The deal represented a very progressive development which marked a dramatic move forward in the fight against poverty, the organisation's welfare rights co-ordinator, Ms Camille Loftus, said. The deal was a landmark victory in the struggle for adequate welfare payments.
The gap between the rich and poor had widened over the past 12 years, but the new agreement would see the beginning of the reversal of this trend, the Community of Religious in Ireland's justice commission director, Sister Brigid Reynolds, said.