Unions and employers to consult members on pay deal

The employers' group IBEC has decided to allow its members decide on whether to endorse the government proposals on pay partnership.

IBEC and the Irish Congress of Trades Unions met seperately today to discuss their response to the proposed national partnership deal.

It is understood the executive council of the ICTU is also likely to put the deal to a national ballot of members without recommending or rejecting the proposal.

IBEC says that due to the current economic climate, its negotiating team felt it could not decide on behalf of the organisation's 7,000 members.

The proposals will instead be discussed by the National Executive next Wednesday before going to the regions. A decision will then be made by IBEC's General Council at the end of March.

IBEC President Maurice Pratt said the negotiating team had concluded that the proposals put to IBEC and ICTU by the Government, while not ideal, represented the best that could be achieved at national level.

While the organisation says it fully supports the principle of national pay agreements, it says it cannot commit to one that would "damage" national competitiveness.

The latest proposals, hammered out on Monday, are also causing concern for unions in the private sector. A small number of public sector unions are also unhappy with the timetable for benchmarking pay increases.

Yesterday the ATGWU came out against the deal, which proposes a 7 per cent pay increase in phases over 18 months describing the deal as "woefully inadequate".