ICTU and inflation

Madam, - My first thought when I saw Jim O'Leary's petulant criticism of ICTU's views on inflation (April 2nd) was to ignore …

Madam, - My first thought when I saw Jim O'Leary's petulant criticism of ICTU's views on inflation (April 2nd) was to ignore it, but I cannot resist. All stockbroker and bank economists and former stockbroker economists are by nature conservative and there is nothing they like better to do than to attack trade unions.

With the pay talks commencing, it is open season for this group. Congress anticipates inflation to be around 2 to 2.5 per cent each year for the next two years and economic growth to be as high as 4 per cent each year. We aspire to a pay increase for all workers which will both cover inflation and allow them to share in the economic growth of the country.

AIB's profits did not grow last year, when inflation averaged 3.5 per cent. In fact, after-tax profits fell by 29 per cent. Yet Jim O'Leary, as a non-executive director of this august body, sanctioned an increase in AIB chief executive Michael Buckley's remuneration of a substantial 50 per cent, to €1.4m. Clearly the productivity measure was not profit growth, nor was it based on inflation. He and the other directors also sanctioned an increase in average remuneration of the 10 non-executive (part-time) directors of 25 per cent, to an average of €92,700 each. We will follow what you do and not what you say, Jim. - Fraternally,

PAUL SWEENEY, Economic Adviser, ICTU, 32 Parnell Square, Dublin 1.