Industrial action warning

Industrial action warning as jobless figures soar

Councillor predicts ‘winter of discontent’ following pay talks collapse, as Mayo unemployment rises by 35 per cent

Anton McNulty

THE industrial landscape in Mayo is facing a ‘winter of discontent’ following the collapse of the new national pay agreement talks over the weekend, with unions expected to call for pay increases while employers defiantly call for pay freezes.
The collapse of the pay talks came in the same week that Central Statistics Office (CSO) figures revealed that numbers on the live register in Mayo increased by 35 per cent in the last year.
The figures show that in the last 12 months the number of people signing on the dole in the county increased from 5,270 in July 2007 to 7,137 for July 2008, an increase of 1,858. Perhaps the most worrying statistic released, however, related to the number of persons under 25 years of age signing on the live register. Figures for July 2008 show that 1,573 persons under-25 are on the live register, an increase of 52.6 per cent from 12 months ago.
The increase in unemployment figures came as no surprise to Independent Castlebar town councillor and SIPTU Branch Organiser, Michael Kilcoyne, who said that a recession was on the cards for a long time but nothing was done to offset the damage it might do. He said that he expected lean times ahead, especially for people who are not members of unions, and said that unless employers are reasonable with workers’ demands in pay talks, he expects to see industrial strike action in the months ahead.
“In the next few weeks, the unions and the companies will set out a procedure regarding pay talks but at the end of the day if the workers decide the offers are not acceptable, there will be industrial action and I’m in no doubt that this will happen in some cases. The cost of living is rising all the time and workers are struggling to pay their mortgages and other costs and are getting more militant because of this.
“In the 1990s the workers accepted a pay freeze to bring the economy around and a lot of people made a lot of money out of it. The workers did not get their share of the wealth and they are now saying why should they take a pay freeze in the bad times when they didn’t get anything in the good times. If the employers are reasonable, there won’t be a problem but I expect some companies to say they can’t afford to pay, even though they made a fortune in the past. I feel there will be some industrial action and I expect a winter and spring of discontent,” he said.
Cllr Kilcoyne said that a lot of the blame for the increase in the number of people signing on the live register is down to the lack of investment in the road and rail infrastructure in the west. He accepted that a lot of small businesses were facing difficulties but said that workers could not live off nothing. Cllr Kilcoyne said the fact that a lot of young people with third level degrees were being laid off was a new experience and very worrying.
However, Mr Mark Fielding, CEO of ISME, the Irish Small and Medium Enterprise Association, said the increase in the live register figures was alarming and said the introduction of a wage increase would knock the economy back years.
“Whether we like it or not, companies throughout the economy will have no option but to introduce a wage freeze, at minimum, just to survive. In fact, a number of companies have announced wage reductions in order to maintain employment levels. The Government needs to follow suit and immediately announce a pay freeze throughout the public sector, as part of its contribution to getting the economy back on track,” he said.
Meanwhile, Fine Gael Leader, Enda Kenny, TD, has expressed disappointment at the ineptitude of the current Government in curbing unemployment rates and called for an immediate strategy to alleviate the rising unemployment figures amongst younger people if it wants to avoid another ‘brain drain’.