SIPTU President, Jack O’ Connor, last Friday condemned a call by the Central Bank for more pay cuts across the economy.
He said the call was a response to the catastrophic economic crisis which was brought about by the banking sector while the same Central Bank was asleep on the job.
‘These people who bear the primary responsibility for what is almost certainly the biggest banking collapse in history relative to the size of the economy have persisted in pursuing a strategy that has made the mess they created worse with each passing day.
‘Unit labour costs in Ireland have improved by about 19% relative to our main trading partners since the collapse of 2008.
‘Exports continue to perform steadily despite economic stagnation across Europe. This stagnation is the result of similar policies to those which the Central Bank continues to advocate.
‘The problem with our economy is not that wages or spending is too high. It is that consumer demand continues to fall through the floorboards precisely as a result of the pursuit of this nonsensical approach which reflects an on-going attempt to resolve the problems created by those at the top of society through crucifying people on middle and low incomes,’ Jack O’Connor said.
Meanwhile, workers at Clery’s retail chain took part in a peaceful protest in support of their colleagues from the outlets at Leopardstown, Naas, Blanchardstown and Guiney’s, following the decision by the new owners of the company to place these stores in liquidation.
The protest was exceptionally well attended and the staff outlined their frustration at how these colleagues have been treated.
‘Not only is it unacceptable that the company has attempted to unilaterally impose compulsory redundancies without agreement but in the cases of all the stores with the exception of Blanchardstown, the workers will need to apply to the social fund for their redundancy and all outstanding wages.
‘The company has ignored all requests to consider redeployment options for the staff affected. This coupled with the closure of the staff pension scheme is totally unacceptable to all the employees,’ SIPTU Organiser Graham Macken said.
A petition was delivered to Gordon Brothers by the protesting workers, who are members of SIPTU and Mandate.
‘Gordon Brothers wish to begin negotiations on their restructuring proposals for O’Connell Street but both SIPTU and Mandate are urging the company to uphold their moral obligation to all our members if there is to be any possibility of an amicable settlement for all parties concerned.
‘The staff would like to thank the warm support of the public during today’s protest,’ Graham Macken added.
• Health Minister Dr James Reilly has said that the government has to go ahead with implementing new work practices for consultants from 5th November, despite no agreement with consultants to do so.
Speaking at the Irish Hospital Consultants Association conference in Galway, the minister said the public demanded and expected this change.
Dr Reilly said most consultants he had spoken to have no issue with the Labour Relations Commission (LRC) proposed work practice changes.
He acknowledged that the decision to cut the pay of future consultants by 30% was causing concerns regarding recruitment but insisted this was a separate issue.
Meanwhile, The Irish Hospital Consultants Association says consultants will individually decide if they can accept proposed changes to their contract terms.
The Association will now be putting the proposals to each individual member for their views.
The association will not be entering into a collective agreement on the proposals.
Earlier, the HSE said previously it had expected the Irish Hospital Consultants’Association and the Irish Medical Organisation to have formally responded to the LRC proposals by 1st October but this had not happened.
Following the LRC talks Mr Reilly said the agreement could save around 200m euros.
The HSE has invited the two unions to a meeting next week to try and resolve the impasse.
The new practices would see some consultants being rostered on duty, any five out of seven days and working 8am to 8pm.
They would also be answerable to a clinical director.
There is also huge anger over proposed salary cuts for new teachers.
The general secretary of the Irish National Teachers’ Organisation Sheila Nunan said today that the three pay cuts imposed on new teachers in the past two years will do long term damage to the education system.
She was speaking in Limerick after the first of a number of meetings throughout the country that the union is organising for newly qualified teachers about the pay cuts imposed by government last month.
Ms Nunan said the impact of the cuts would mean that over a 40 year career a teacher starting work in 2012 would earn more than 100,000 euros less than a teacher who started in 2011 and 250,000 less than a teacher who started in 2010.
She described this as unfair, unjust and unnecessary.
The starting salary for new teachers, including a supervision allowance is now 32,294 euros. This compares with 38,690 two years ago.
Ms Nunan said the academic standard of applicants to teaching in Ireland was recognised as among the highest in the world. But she said a recent OECD report showed new teachers earning much less than similarly qualified peers.
‘The government’s decision to implement a lower salary scale for new teachers is an affront to the principle of equal pay for equal work,’ said Ms Nunan.
‘In the past, the INTO has fought and won over time, a number of equal pay battles relating to gender, marital status and qualifications. The INTO will fight to overturn this unfairness no matter how long it takes. The issue of equal pay will be the rallying call for this generation of teachers.’
The pay of Irish teachers has been among the worst hit by cuts to education systems across 34 countries, the European Commission has reported.
Teachers who have started work since the beginning of 2011 started on 13% less than others, while those appointed since last February faced a further 20% drop on foot of suspended qualification and other allowances.
The three unions representing teachers are preparing an equality case on behalf of those who started last year on the grounds of age discrimination, which they hope could make the campaign to reverse the cuts easier.
‘It’s not conscionable or fair that people doing the same job are on different pay rates and it simply has to be and will be put right, the only question is when and how,’ INTO deputy general secretary Noel Ward told recently-qualified teachers in Cork this week.
The European Commission report says Greek, Spanish, Portuguese, and Slovenian teachers were worst affected by budget restrictions. Greece cut teachers’ basic pay by 30% and stopped paying Christmas and Easter bonuses. In Spain, salaries of teachers and public servants were cut by 5% in 2010.
At his inauguration a week ago, the new president of St Patrick’s College in Dublin, Dr Daire Keogh, warned cuts to new teachers’ pay could make the profession less attractive. He said ending payment of qualifications allowances to serving teachers would disincentivise them from improving their skills.