MINISTER FOR Enterprise and Jobs Richard Bruton has said he has “modified and developed” some of his controversial proposals for changing wage-setting mechanisms that govern pay and conditions of some 200,000 workers.
Mr Bruton said yesterday his proposals for changing the joint labour committee and registered employment agreement systems had been amended following a recent consultation process with unions and employer representatives.
“I wanted to make sure there were no unanticipated consequences of changes that were suggested. Through the consultation process, some unanticipated and unwanted consequences were highlighted and there is a modification of the proposals. It was a useful process to go through . . .”
Informed sources suggested last night that the bulk of the Minister’s original changes, including proposed alterations to Sunday premium payments, are contained in his revised memorandum for the Cabinet, although some parts of the proposals have been changed.
Meanwhile, a scheduled ruling by the High Court in a challenge to the joint labour committee system brought by employers in the fast food sector, set for today, has been deferred until next Thursday.
Speaking at the launch of the annual report of Enterprise Ireland, Mr Bruton denied there was any rift in the Cabinet over the issue of changing the wage-setting mechanisms.
However, he acknowledged there were “clearly differences of opinion”. He said that “if reform was easy, it would have been done a long time ago”.
Labour Party backbenchers have expressed deep unhappiness at the Minister’s proposals.
The Minister said that, at a time when many people were being locked out of the jobs market, there was evidence that changes to the joint labour committee system would open up employment opportunities for people.
He said he was determined to deliver on the proposed changes “to create chances for people who do not have them”.
Mr Bruton said that the Government had taken the opportunity to wait for the ruling in the High Court challenge being brought by employers in the fast food sector prior to making a decision, “because obviously it will have an impact on some of the elements of the reform package”.
Asked about concerns raised by some in the Labour Party that changes that resulted in pay cuts for workers could lead to a rise in the State’s welfare bill, the Minister again said that his plans were not about reducing pay. He said existing workers would not be affected as they were protected by their current contracts of employment.
He said that “for every person we get back to work it is €10,000 off the social welfare bill, €4,000 in tax coming in and €6,000 in spending in shops.
“By getting people back to work, which this proposal is designed to deliver, we lift the economy on so many fronts.”
Mr Bruton said that the evidence from measures introduced in the UK was that they produced “an employment impact and did not have an effect on wages”.
The Minister said he wanted to implement radical reform in the area of the wage-setting mechanisms and that decisions needed to be made at an early date: “We want to move with as much haste as we can prudently do.”
Mr Bruton also said the troika of the EU, International Monetary Fund and European Central Bank had been part of the consultation process, and that their views on the proposals had been taken into account as well as those of others.