THE Government has welcomed the decision of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions to enter talks on a successor to the Programme for Competitiveness and Work.
The Minister for Finance, Mr Quinn, and the Minister for Enterprise and Employment, Mr Richard Bruton, have warned, however, that reaching agreement between the social partners would be difficult. The ICTU said that its members had not voted "for more of the same".
Both Finance and Enterprise band Employment will be centrally involved in the talks and delegates at the special delegate conference of the ICTU in Dublin yesterday were critical of the role the departments played in the implementation of the PCW.
Public sector unions accused the Department of Finance of blocking progress in restructuring deals. The general secretary of Mandate, Mr Owen Nulty, predicted that the minimum hours legislation being prepared by Enterprise and Employment to deal with Sunday trading and zero-hour contracts (under which there is no guarantee of weekly hours of work) would be ineffective.
Despite strong misgivings, delegates voted by 253 to 50 with 14 abstentions to enter talks. Mr Quinn said the substantial margin in favour of new talks was a positive endorsement of the overall success of previous agreements.
The Irish Business and Employers Confederation has also given a cautious welcome to the news.
The ICTU is seeking firm commitments on tax reforms for PAYE workers, greater safeguards for trade unionists in the workplace and much larger pay rises than those conceded under the PCW.
ICTU leaders will now seek talks with the Government employers and farming organisations on a new agreement. The PCW expires on December 31st.
Rounding off the debate at the conference, the general secretary of the ICTU, Mr Peter Cassells, said "national agreements as we've known them for the last decade have come to an end. Those who voted in favour here today have made it very clear that they are not voting for more of the same.
"The last three agreements have served the country well and brought some benefits to working people and their families. But at this stage of the process it is clear that the process of social partnership either develops or it dies.
"It can be developed by deepening the democratic content through real partnership at company level and by widening the scope through the inclusion of more flexible systems of rewards, like profit sharing.
"Congress will be working hard to develop social partnership in a way which will give it renewed, vigour and relevance. We can only succeed with the co-operation of the other social partners," he said.