The fate of a proposed new national partnership deal remains in the balance as negotiations on non-pay issues resume today.
Criticism of the deal, agreed at the weekend, came from a number of members of the executive council of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions at a meeting yesterday.
The meeting, which lasted for more than four hours, underlined the difficult task facing the ICTU in "selling" the deal to union members over the next few weeks. Its general secretary, Mr David Begg, said that there had been "quite a deal of concern and angst" over the proposals.
Much of the criticism focused on an element of the proposed deal which will compel unions to accept binding arbitration in cases where employers plead inability to pay. However, union leaders in favour of the deal have argued that it imposes onerous obligations on employers, who would have to justify claims of inability to pay to independent parties such as the Labour Relations Commission.
The ICTU executive council decided to defer adopting a position on the agreement until negotiations on a range of outstanding issues are completed.
Farmers' leaders and representatives of the community and voluntary sector are to attend talks with the Government today.
Employers and unions will resume negotiations next week on matters not covered by this week's deal, including transport, childcare and workplace issues such as flexible working hours.
Unions want to await the outcome of the negotiations on the programme of modernisation and change in the public service, which is tied into payment of the benchmarking increases, before deciding whether to back the deal. A final decision will be made at a special delegate conference following a national ballot of union members.
IBEC, the employers' body, has also begun a consultation process on the proposed agreement. Its negotiating team considered the package yesterday and it will be debated further by IBEC's executive council next Wednesday.
Mr Maurice Pratt, the organisation's president, said that the negotiating team had decided that the proposals which emerged at the weekend, while "not ideal", represented "the best that could be achieved at national level".
The deal agreed on Monday, following intervention by the Government, provides for a phased pay increase of 7 per cent over 18 months for workers in the private sector. Public servants face a six-month pay pause, but are to receive payment of most of the benchmarking increases, averaging 8.9 per cent, by next year, and the total amount by June 2005.
Significant improvements in statutory redundancy payments and a plan to provide about 10,000 "affordable houses", as well as a strengthening of rights to union representation, also form part of the package.
