How the deal was done: A compromise on the issue of low pay was the key to breaking the deadlock in the marathon talks on wage rises which concluded yesterday afternoon, writes Chris Dooley.
A compromise on the issue of low pay was the key to breaking the deadlock in the marathon talks on wage rises which concluded yesterday afternoon.
After 29 hours of talks without a break, union and employer representatives emerged from Government Buildings into the daylight at about 4 p.m.
They had finally struck a deal after what participants said was the longest negotiating session in the 17-year history of social partnership.
The talks had been complicated by a separate row over the future of Aer Rianta, which at one point threatened to scupper not only a new pay deal, but the continuance of social partnership.
Union leaders were anxious from the outset to avoid allowing the Aer Rianta issue, important as it was, to override the need to work out a pay agreement affecting 500,000 workers.
They also felt, however, that if the Government was seen to renege on a commitment to negotiate with them on the issue, they could not conclude a pay deal.
An agreement on the issue, worked out between unions and the Government in the early hours of Thursday, required some fine tuning yesterday after concerns were raised by the Tánaiste, Ms Harney.
By the time the issue was finally put to bed, allowing the parties to focus on pay, it was already 5 a.m., according to one senior negotiator.
Another thought it was earlier, but admitted that time had become something of a blur. "I can't remember Wednesday," he told The Irish Times.
In any event, the two sides hoped they could deal with the issue sufficiently quickly to allow them home for breakfast. As things transpired, they did not even make it for lunch.
The key sticking points were the unions' insistence on holding out for a pay increase of 6 per cent, over 18 months, as well as a flat rate increase for the lower paid.
The sides had earlier concurred that inflation for the period of the agreement was likely to be around 4 per cent, or a little over, and this was the level of pay increase employers were offering.
But they were implacably opposed to the demand for a flat rate rise for those on low pay, insisting it would threaten the viability of some companies in sectors including manufacturing and services.
In the end, the additional half per cent increase for the lower paid solved two problems at once. It gave unions the special deal it had sought for low-paid workers, without adding as much to employers' pay bills as the €20 a week initially demanded. But it also brought the pay deal up to the critical 6 per cent figure, which SIPTU had adopted as its bottom line, for at least some workers. The majority, however, will receive 5.5 per cent, in phases of 1.5 for the first six months, the same again for the second six, and 2.5 per cent for the final third of the 18-month deal.
Agreeing on the phasing of the deal was also a particularly difficult issue. Unions would have preferred two phases and, of course, a greater amount up front.
But they did secure a significant concession in ensuring that the extra half per cent for low-paid workers would be paid in the first phase, giving them a 2 per cent rise at the start.
Had these workers been made to wait for the special increase, many who will now benefit would have been disqualified. Workers on low pay, for the purposes of the deal, are those earning up to and including €9 per hour, or €351 per week.
If the additional half per cent had been held back until the second or third phase, some who now earn less than €351 would have exceeded the threshold by the time the special rise kicked in.
The final outcome, both sides acknowledged, fell a little short of their aspirations. But that's what compromise involves, and there is a good deal of confidence that the deal will be endorsed by the two sides' respective memberships.