Unions show growing frustration at Partnership 2000 pay deals

Two prominent trade unions have issued strong warnings to the Government that any replacement for the Partnership 2000 agreement must involve significant rewards for workers which equate with gains other sectors have achieved.

At its annual conference in Belfast yesterday, the national secretary of the 31,000 member-strong Manufacturing Science Finance (MSF) union, Mr John Tierney, set out its priorities. These are a basic 2 to 3 per cent per annum cost-of-living increase for all employees in all sectors and provision of an additional annual 5 per cent "equivalence increase" which could be negotiated at local level.

This was required to counter the trend whereby "an increasing share of the growing national cake has been going to profit-takers, and a declining share to wage-earners".

Public Service Executive Union president, Mr Tom Allen, told delegates at its annual conference that "as the Celtic Tiger is now in full stride, you can bet that it is now pay-back time".

In Tralee, Co Kerry, Mr Allen said he wanted to send "a clear, unambiguous message to the Government" that his union members "want a fair wage for the job we're doing and a reward that equates to that obtained by other public service groups". While the PSEU - which has some 7,000 members - did not wish to return to the days of "free-for-all" bargaining, as collective agreements had served it well, recent events had cast doubt over its continued support for such programmes.