Employers’ body IBEC says it will withdraw from the terms of the national pay agreement before the new year, unless it reaches agreement with ICTU on an alternative pay agreement by mid-December.
The decision was taken after a meeting of IBEC’s national council today.
The Transitional Agreement reached in September of last year provided for wage increases totalling 6% over 21 months.
However, IBEC Director General Danny McCoy said the terms of that deal were agreed in a radically different economic context and were now utterly inappropriate.
IBEC has repeatedly stated that there should be no pay rises before 2011.
Mr McCoy added that the focus should be on keeping people in jobs, but that protracted efforts over the last year to reach an agreement on suspending the pay terms had proved unsuccessful.
He said IBEC has proposed a set of measures that would redirect public funds towards keeping people in jobs, rather than allowing a drift into spending equivalent funds on social welfare payments.
IBEC said that while it supports an agreed approach to resolving the current economic difficulties, efforts must focus on keeping companies in business and supporting jobs.
