Celebrating workers and the labour movement on May Day which will be a national holiday next year.
Trade Unions mark traditional May Day celebrations around the country and set out their demands to government.
For the trade unions,
It was a chance to raise the concerns that face their movement.
At a Services Industrial Professional and Technical Union (SIPTU) event in Nenagh, the trade union gave a strong warning to government about its handing of cuts to social welfare and the new one per cent employment levy. General President of SIPTU Bill Atley says that unless the cuts and the levy are removed, there should be no discussion on another Programme for Economic and Social Progress (PESP).
In Belfast, Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU) General Secretary Peter Cassells had this message.
If there are to be talks on another national programme for jobs, for tax reform and pay, then the withdrawal of the one per cent levy will have to be an integral part of that.
At a reception in Dublin, Minister for Enterprise and Employment Ruairi Quinn presented legal documents that will create a new May Day Bank Holiday from next year. Ruairi Quinn stated that the government was committed to negotiating a realistic national agreement but described the one percent levy as a necessary evil. The government needs the temporary levy and wants a new social partnership. However, the trade unions say that they can not have both.
An RTÉ News report broadcast on 1 May 1993. The reporter is Mark Little.
