The talks on a national partnership programme will resume this week amid signs that the successor to Sustaining Progress - assuming one is agreed - is likely to take longer to negotiate than any of the six previous accords stretching back to 1987. When the negotiations started early in February, it was predicted that they would be wrapped up by the middle of March. That forecast has proved to be hugely optimistic.
That the talks have yet to move on to the issue of pay increases, a core plank of any agreement, indicates the significance being attached by the trade union movement to the issue of labour standards in the aftermath of the Irish Ferries dispute. The Irish Congress of Trade Unions outlined its determination at the outset that employees should be protected from the threat of losing their jobs to people prepared to work for less; an "Irish Ferries on land" was how it was described.
One solution, as the trade unions saw it, was to establish in law a going rate for jobs in every sector. The employers' body, Ibec, is opposed to new legislation but is prepared to support more labour inspectors and larger fines for companies found to be under-paying. As a result, any agreement appears likely to produce a national employment policy of some sort. And it is somewhat unsatisfactory that such a significant exercise should be carried out behind closed doors between some, but not all, of the social partners under the threat of a pay free-for-all if the legislation is not agreed.
That being said, employees are entitled to protection under employment legislation while companies must have the right to outsource functions where it makes commercial sense to do so. What is required is a fair balance between the desire of the trade union movement for a strong concession on labour standards (conscious, perhaps, that this may be necessary to secure a vote in favour of any overall agreement) and the need to avoid over-burdening employers with regulations - such as exist in France - which would prevent them reducing job numbers in response to a downturn in business.
While acknowledging the significance of this issue, it is imperative also that it does not overshadow discussions on the pay elements of any new deal. The latest inflation figures suggest that the Government's target of a 2.7 per cent inflation rate for the year was too optimistic. Inflation has climbed in each of the last three months and is now running at 3.5 per cent. Lower income groups, in particular, will be hard hit by hefty increases in non-discretionary items such as food and heating.
Against this background, decisions on pay must not be rushed. It is a fact that this State's industrial competitivness has been eroded significantly and the social partners have a responsibility to ensure that the situatioon does not worsen. At the same time any agreement must protect the living conditions of the least-well off. It is a balancing act that will require skill, a willingness to compromise - and more time.