Unions will not tolerate race to the bottom on pay, terms

PUBLIC service unions have pleaded with the new Public Service Pay Commission not to compare them with ‘snake-pit employers’ in the private sector who treat workers badly.

Their detailed document, sent this weekend to Public Service Commission review boss Kevin Duffy, calls for comparisons with largerscale employers who provide pensions and training.

The unions do not want pay comparisons with the ‘zero-hours’ employers who use hire-and-fire tactics and lay-offs to keep costs low.

They have also called for more open pay transparency as previous benchmarking reviews were discredited by secrecy over actual pay scales in the private sector.

The full submission, on behalf of nearly 300,000 public servants, has been seen by the Irish Mail on Sunday.

It reveals union fears that members’ pay could be compared with workers who only have the minimum 20 days’ leave a year, no company pensions and who can be sacked at a week’s notice.

The Irish Fiscal Advisory Council has warned that ‘current projections indicate that any further increases in expenditure in 2017 for higher public sector pay will have to be offset by lower spending in other areas or higher taxes’.

It added: ‘For 2017, the available fiscal space under the rules has already been allocated in Budget 2017 for tax cuts and expenditure increases.’