Union leaders are to hold a crucial meeting with Taoiseach Bertie Ahern in the coming days to try to find a basis for new partnership talks
The meeting, requested by the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (Ictu), is likely to have a critical bearing on the immediate future of social partnership.
Talks on a successor to Sustaining Progress have been delayed because of trade union concerns over a "race to the bottom" in employment standards. Assurances that these concerns will be addressed have been provided in recent weeks by employers' bodies and the Government.
However, Siptu, the State's biggest union, says more substantial commitments are required before it can support the opening of formal negotiations.
If Mr Ahern provides sufficient reassurances at this week's meeting, it is understood Siptu's leadership will reconvene a special conference to decide the union's position on entering talks. The logistics involved, however, mean it will be at least three weeks before such a conference can take place.
Mr Ahern has already promised Government engagement on a range of measures to underpin employment standards should unions enter talks on a new agreement.
In a letter to Ictu president Peter McLoone on October 21st last, he acknowledged that improvements were needed in areas such as resourcing of the labour inspectorate and the penalties for employers who exploit workers.
However, Siptu president Jack O'Connor said yesterday that stronger assurances were required. "In terms of substance the Government needs to take a big step in demonstrating its amenability to a range of measures to address job displacement and exploitation in the economy," he said.
Mr O'Connor said there had been informal engagement between the parties since the Taoiseach wrote to Ictu in October, so Mr Ahern was now fully informed of the unions' specific concerns. The timing of Ictu's meeting with Mr Ahern could not be confirmed last night, but it is expected to take place by Friday at the latest.
The unions' concerns about job displacement and exploitation arose directly from the dispute at Irish Ferries, which is replacing most of its seafarers with cheaper migrant labour.
Talks on a successor to Sustaining Progress, which expired at the end of the year for workers in large sections of the private sector, had been due to begin in mid-November.
Given the requirement for Siptu to hold a special delegate conference beforehand, it will now be the end of January at the earliest before negotiations can start.
Union leaders have already told the Government that, if talks do take place, they want the issues of job displacement and exploitation addressed in separate discussions at the outset, before negotiations open on pay and other matters.