The Republic's largest trade union, SIPTU, and 10 of the main voluntary and community organisations have called for the introduction of a national minimum wage of £4.40 an hour from next April. This is a year ahead of the commitment given by the Government in Partnership 2000.
The Dublin Council of Trade Unions (DCTU) has also reacted angrily to comments by economists and employer representatives at the Kenmare Economics Workshop last weekend, where the proposal for a national minimum wage came under serious criticism.
The DCTU president, Mr Des Bonass, said his organisation would be reactivating its pickets of businesses in the city centre which were paying wages as low as £2.50 an hour.
"Low-pay firms will be named", he said, "and their profits will be published as part of our campaign to heighten public awareness". He added that the DCTU would also be commencing an intensive lobby of TDs.
The issue also came up at the presentation of a list of 10 Budget demands from SIPTU and a number of voluntary groups. These included the Society of St Vincent de Paul, the Forum of People with Disabilities, the CORI Justice Commission, the Irish Traveller Movement and the Irish National Organisation of the Unemployed.
The general secretary of the INOU, Mr Mike Allen, said fear of job losses had been the biggest concern his organisation had had about the national minimum wage, but it was satisfied this would not happen if the measure was implemented properly. "We should be at the stage now where employers sit down with the unions and other social partners to discuss implementation.
"Instead, employers are trying to row back, and there is a danger that their present strategy will maximise the adverse impact of the national minimum wage." He called on them to reconsider their position.
The SIPTU general secretary, Mr John McDonnell, also emphasised the importance of a planned implementation of the new minimum wage. The introduction of a 39-hour week and of equality legislation had also been preceded by predictions of job losses, which had proved untrue.
He also highlighted other demands that SIPTU and the voluntary/community sector were making, such as social welfare increases, free medical cards for all children under 17, tax relief to be targeted at the low-paid and more resources to be put into equality and adult literacy.
"In today's booming economy there is an assumption that everyone has the education necessary to join the labour market," he said. But this was not the case. A substantial increase in resources given to adult education, for instance, could considerably increase the chances of many longterm unemployed people finding a job.