Public sector union Impact provided a platform at its annual conference this week for several key players in the social partnership talks to state their closing positions. Addressing the conference yesterday, the Taoiseach acknowledged that there remained "considerable differences" between employers and unions. But by signalling that unions have no desire to damage the economy by contributing to a wage/price spiral, Irish Congress of Trade Unions (Ictu) leader David Begg created room for manoeuvre.
Impact general secretary and Ictu president Peter McLoone was less conciliatory. His call for measures that will put the "fear of God" into employers who exploit vulnerable workers addresses a key issue of low-paid workers in a high-cost economy. Dealing with the evils of low pay and poor conditions is and should remain an essential goal of social partnership. But the relevance of other goals needs reassessment and there are issues at present outside the scope of partnership that need inclusion.
Imposing a "one size fits all" pay increase on an economy with divergent economic sectors is no longer appropriate. In some sectors productivity is increasing and this warrants generosity. In others, jobs are being shed as firms grapple with rising costs. A key failure of partnership has been to deal with the symptoms and consequences, rather than the causes of rising inflation. Interest rate and oil price increases are beyond its scope but much inflationary pressure is coming from increasing education, health and electricity costs. Indirect taxation - an increasingly heavy source of taxation - is another channel by which government activity greatly increases the cost of living here.
The National Employment Survey this week revealed just how significant a burden government is becoming. According to its findings, public sector earnings are on average 40 per cent higher than private sector earnings. As Mr McLoone has said, low pay and poor conditions cannot be tolerated. But neither is it acceptable that the public sector continues to burden the economy while having no responsibility to guarantee results, nor any real accountability for controlling costs.
Impact also expressed strong opposition to the Government's decentralisation policy. In this regard, trade unions have an important role to play in improving a deeply flawed plan. However, it is a pity that decentralisation is likely to remain outside the scope of partnership negotiations. The disconnect between decentralisation and modernisation of the public service is regrettable. Modernisation should have preceded decentralisation and social partnership might have been the perfect way to navigate these two policies. Indeed, it might yet be. Next year marks the 20th anniversary of social partnership. It is also an election year. The agreement which the various participants will try to hammer out when they meet again tomorrow may be the last of its kind.