A new national pay agreement based on social partnership now seems unlikely, according to the general secretary of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions.
In an address to the Mandate trade union conference in Tralee, David Begg said that recent statements by IBEC and the Minister for Finance suggest that their doubts about a new deal go beyond posturing.
He says that while he believes that social partnership has worked well and should be continued, unions should prepare for a return to local bargaining.
