Craft union may pull out of the PPF

The 27,000-strong Technical Engineering and Electrical Union is expected to pass a motion at its biennial conference today instructing…

The 27,000-strong Technical Engineering and Electrical Union is expected to pass a motion at its biennial conference today instructing members to serve claims on employers if the current review of the PPF does not produce a pay increase.

The TEEU is the largest craft union. It represents electricians, plumbers and fitters, with members spread across the private and public sectors.

It is the first major union to indicate it may pull out of the PPF unilaterally if there is no across-the-board pay increase from employers.

The motion will be proposed by district secretary Mr Eamon Devoy. He is expected to urge delegates at the conference in Cork to "pursue all means at their disposal for a meaningful and substantial increase in pay" at industry, sectoral and enterprise levels.

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"The TEEU will not be left behind on this occasion. Other trade unions are taking the necessary action to protect and promote the interests of their members outside of the terms of national agreements," he said yesterday.

The Garda, nurses and now teachers were taking action outside the terms of national agreements while blue-collar workers in the private sector and commercial semi-states were being left behind, he said.

The general secretary of the TEEU, Mr Owen Wills, last night called on the Government to establish "new centres of excellence for apprenticeship training" in an effort to address the crisis caused by the inability of the Institutes of Technology to cope with the growing number of apprentices.