Productivity? Not in public sector talks that last 15 minutes

PRODUCTIVITY for pay hikes are central to the public sector pay talks launched yesterday – but there was little of it to be seen on the day.

After a storm of claims and counterclaims relating to the taxpayer-funded perks State workers get, both sides met... and separated again after just 15 minutes.

The talks, in which unions are lobbying for increases in pay and cuts in their pensions levy, will not resume again until tomorrow morning, when Government officials will give the unions technical details on the state of the national finances.

Yesterday’s briefings from the unions were so brief that after the union delegation set out its stall, and formalities were agreed, they quickly ended.

The talks are expected to last for the next three weeks, and discussions proper will begin next week, when the Labour Relations Commission is expected to become involved.

However, the clear divisions that have already been set by both sides see the Government demanding more productivity and reform in return for any pay increases, and the unions arguing that there has been enormous reform already.

SIPTU chief Jack O’Connor has warned that further moves down this road would undermine the working conditions of his members.

He also said he wants an end to the controversial 7.5 per cent pension levy, which would cost taxpayers € 3,500 per State employee, and he wants this issue to be among the first up for discussion. He wants to see the lower paid workers to gain the most.

A Government spokesman last night said that their negotiators will be willing to consider the pension levy at the start.

After the talks, Liam Doran of the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation, said his members deserved pay restoration following their years of sacrifice.

‘Nurses and midwives want their money back, I think the Government now owes public servants and they certainly owe nurses and midwives,’ he said.

The Civil and Public Service Union’s general secretary, Eoin Ronayne, said they would be looking for substantial rather than token pay increases.

‘There is talk of further productivity, so small percentage increases on salaries of €20,000 or €25,000 simply doesn’t work, it has to be flat rate, it has to be reasonable,’ he said. But the Government is not going to rush into anything and any pay for public servants would have to be gradual, Enda Kenny said.

On his way into Cabinet yesterday, the Taoiseach said: ‘The Government will not do anything foolish here in respect of the progress we made following the reshaping of our finances.’

Public Expenditure and Re-

‘The nurses want their money back’

form Minister Brendan Howlin also urged caution, saying that since the Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest were introduced to save the State’s finances, taxpayers have benefited to the tune of €2.2billion year.

‘We can’t undo all of that in one fell swoop,’ he said.

He added: ‘We have to have an orderly unwinding of the emergency legislation.’ But Renua Ireland’s leader Lucinda Creighton last night criticised Mr Howlin.

She said he had ‘ once again demonstrated the willingness of the Government to repeat the mistakes of their predecessors in an effort to gain support in advance of the next election’.

‘A divisive approach of pitting the public and private sectors against one another undermines the social cohesion demonstrated by the Irish workforce over the last seven years, and deprives them of the economic dividend to which they are all equally entitled,’ she added.

Irish Small and Medium Enterprises chief executive Mark Fielding has already dismissed the talks as ‘ auction politics’ and called for the discussions to be delayed until after the general election.