THE EXECUTIVE of the State's largest craft union, the TEEU, is to advise its 45,000 members to support the proposed new national pay deal in a forthcoming ballot.
It said yesterday it was backing the proposed agreement on the basis of the need to protect jobs and maintain competitiveness.
The general secretary of the TEEU, Owen Wills, said that in the recent talks the trade union movement had secured a reduced pay freeze of three months as well as a 6 per cent pay rise, with 6.5 per cent for the low paid.
"These were the best possible terms available in the current economic crisis where maintaining competitiveness is also a key issue. Holding out for higher pay increases was not an option while our members were facing the prospect of higher unemployment levels," he said.
Mr Wills also said that important employment rights issues were included in the proposed deal, such as re-establishing the right to bargain in companies where this had been eroded following a Supreme Court ruling last year, securing anti-victimisation legislation, as well as new protection for agency workers.
The executive of the union representing mid-ranking civil servants, the PSEU, has also urged its members to vote in favour of the proposed new agreement in a forthcoming ballot.
PSEU general secretary Dan Murphy said the union's executive committee had made the recommendation on the basis that the proposed deal represented a better outcome for members than any possible alternative and that the stability provided by a further partnership agreement was in "the best interests of the country".
The trade union Unite is to hold a consultative conference today to discuss its view on the proposed agreement. The executive of Unite has already recommended that its members vote against the deal.
The union representing lower-paid civil servants, the CPSU, has also urged its members to reject the proposed deal.
However, the largest public service union, Impact, has recommended to its members that they support it.
The National Union of Journalists last night also said it would recommend acceptance of the deal in a ballot of members.
Irish Secretary Séamus Dooley said the Irish executive council had decided to accept the agreement "despite considerable disappointment at the pay terms on offer".