Taoiseach Brian Cowen has said the current dispute involving electricians in the electrical contracting sector “reflects little credit on either side”.
Addressing the biennial delegate conference of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions in Tralee, he said there was an onus on both sides to “engage constructively” in the current talks process and “to reflect in their behaviour the reality of the impact the dispute is having on the wider economy and its reputation”.
He said: “Frankly, there is no greater penalty we can impose on ourselves than to revert to the failed models of industrial conflict at a time when we require to apply all our energies to positive innovation and creative change in order to preserve jobs and living standards.”
The Taoiseach said the trade union movement had sought a €1 billion investment to address the jobs crisis. He pointed out the Government has already committed an additional €1 billion to the jobs agenda through various measures “by reallocating resources from other less-urgent spending”.
Mr Cowen also stressed the need for public service reform and he said “we have to go about improving public services through radical change and by doing more with less”.
But Ictu's General Secretary David Begg signalled Mr Cowen would not get much support in the run-up to December's budget.
"There is nobody on that committee who will suffer in any way as a result of the cutbacks in public services," Mr Begg said, referring to a committee that has recommended up to €5 billion of spending cuts.
About a dozen delegates staged a silent demonstration for a period during Mr Cowen’s speech. They held banners aloft opposing cutbacks and calling for greater taxation of the wealthy.