Disruption caused by yesterday's protests in Dublin and a number of other cities and towns marks a worrying development in a gradually deteriorating industrial relations climate.
Ostensibly, the dislocation was orchestrated by the trade union movement because of a refusal by several firms, including the Irish Glass Bottle Company in Ringsend, Dublin, to make the kind of redundancy payments to their workforces that were recommended by the Labour Court. On a broader canvas, however, it reflects dissatisfaction by the Irish Congress of Trade Unions over a Government failure to increase the level of statutory redundancy payments. Since last year, when the numbers out of work began to rise significantly, Congress has argued that higher payments are affordable from the redundancy fund. Discussions, however, have dragged on and are now likely to form part of negotiations for a new national agreement.
The orchestrated muscle-flexing was underpinned by four trade unions - SIPTU, BATU, TEEU and UCATT - and was clearly designed to emphasise to their members the importance of worker solidarity across different sectors of the economy while, at the same time, sharply reminding employers of the benefits of industrial peace.
As the Programme for Prosperity and Fairness comes to an end, both ICTU and IBEC take the view that a new form of social partnership is required to address changed circumstances. The trade union and employer organisations differ, however, on what precisely is required, as well as on what is affordable. This complex situation is compounded by the fact that worsening Exchequer figures will make it extremely difficult, if not impossible, for the Government to once again facilitate an agreement through tax reductions. There is even talk of benchmarking payments for the public sector being postponed into next year. In spite of such difficulties, however, the social partners are reluctant to abandon the template that provided this country with a platform from which the economy was transformed over a 15-year period.
Within the next four weeks, the National Economic and Social Council is due to publish its advice to the Government on how the economy might be further developed and social justice secured. That document will form the basis for any negotiations between the social partners on a future national agreement.
Wage expectations may have been tempered by deteriorating international circumstances, but high domestic inflation levels, particularly in the services sector and in housing costs, are major causes for concern. Unemployment figures for September showed a small decrease of 2,400, bringing overall unemployment levels to 4.3 per cent. While that is a welcome development, the number of people out of work has risen by 15 per cent since the beginning of the year. In that context, trade union concerns over redundancy payments are understandable.