Extra 3% saves Irish pay pact

Irish unions have agreed to accept the continuation of the country's three-year national pay pact, the Programme for Prosperity and Fairness (PPF), after the employers offered another 3% over two years.

The PPF has been under pressure because of rising inflation in Ireland, which outstripped the 5.5% pay increase agreed for this year. The unions had demanded more money to make up for this but the employers initially refused to go beyond the original agreement, which provides a further 5.5% in 2001 and 4.0% for nine months in 2002 (see Labour

Research December 2000 page 8).

At the beginning of last month the employers made a new offer providing an extra 2.0% to be paid as a lump sum in April 2001 and a further 1.0% lump sum in April 2002.

On this basis the executive of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions voted by 22 votes to three to continue the deal.