Heavier corporation tax rates and curbs on property speculation are among the demands SIPTU members are making at the union's two regional conferences in the midlands and south-west this weekend.
Speaking at the opening of the south-west regional conference in Tralee last night, the union's general secretary, Mr John McDonnell, said: "Last year's budget for greed was not only wrong in terms of sacrificing the interests of the lower-paid to feather the nests of the rich, it also greatly worsened the housing crisis."
SIPTU was calling for a restoration of the 40 per cent rate of capital gains tax to curb speculators, Mr McDonnell said.
At the midlands conference in Mullingar, Mr Jack O'Connor, SIPTU regional secretary, said the area had the highest rate of migration and should qualify for Objective 1 status.
He said local communities "do not appear to have been as effective in co-operating together to promote the case for resource deployment as others. There is an urgent requirement for a collective initiative and, on behalf of the regional executive of SIPTU, I commit the union to co-operate fully and play our part in promoting the cause of the midlands".
On the question of a national agreement to succeed Partnership 2000, Mr O'Connor said the real issue "is not whether there will be another agreement. The issue for us is determining the best way forward for our members, and workers generally".
The failure of the Government to deliver bigger tax cuts to the low-paid in the last budget "amounted to nothing less than a slap in the face for social partnership".