Kyrgyzstan, Ireland

Following the large demonstrations across Ireland last month, a settlement has been agreed at Irish Ferries ensuring that the migrant workers are paid at least the Irish minimum wage and other decent conditions. There were fears that Irish Ferries would set an example as another company attempting to exploit migrant workers and pay below European minimum standards. Pay levels and crew numbers will be higher than those originally proposed by the company and a framework agreement will ensure maintenance of these conditions irrespective of what flag the ferries are registered under. [Read more at

The IMPACT public services union says that an official report makes a misleading comparison between public sector and private sector pay. It points out that recent high increases for many public sector workers resulted from a comprehensive comparison of public sector and private sector pay rates in a benchmarking exercise that what was part of the national pay negotiations. The union also argues that general public/private comparisons cannot be made without taking account of the differences in occupations, skill levels and age across each sector. [Read more at >IMPACT->http://www.impact.ie

National intersectoral pay talks have been the main determinant of pay rises in the public sector since the late 1980s. A key sticking point in the current talks is the union demand for tighter employment legislation to prevent a race to the bottom. This follows the Irish Ferries case where only strike action and massive national protests stopped the company from sacking staff and employing mainly migrant workers on wage rates below the national minimum wage. Public services union IMPACT has listed some of the other key issues in the negotiations. On pay the unions are looking for increases

The pay element of the national agreement between the Irish social partners has been finalised with workers set to get a 10% pay increase over the next 27 months. Public servants and staff in non-commercial semi-state bodies will get 3% on 1 December 2006, 2% on 1 June 2007, 2.5% on 1 March 2008 and 2.5% on 1 September 2008. Lower paid workers (those on €10.25 an hour or less) will get an extra 0.5%. As before, workers and unions must co-operate with modernisation and change measures to qualify for the increases. [Read more at > IMPACT->http://www.impact.ie/iopen24/pub/newsdesk_info.php

Members of IMPACT, the main public services union, have voted four-to-one in favour of the latest national pay and conditions agreement, “Towards 2016”. The agreement provides for a 10% pay increase over 27 months (10.5% for those earning less than €10.25 an hour) but also includes a number of important changes to strengthen employment rights including higher fines for employers and a trebling of the number of labour inspectors. The agreement has further proposals for public service modernisation but maintains restrictions on the circumstances in which public sector employers can outsource

The IMPACT civil service union is balloting members in a number of government departments over possible industrial action. The union's decision is in response to the government's failure to guarantee jobs, pay and conditions and career progression to staff affected by decentralisation. Workers in seven departments, including the Department of the Environment and the Prison Service, will be asked to support a range of measures including non-co-operation with the decentralisation plans. Ballots in other departments may follow if no guarantees from the government are forthcoming. [Read more at >

Psychiatric nurses have given three weeks' notice of industrial action in protest at the failure of health service employers to agree a compensation scheme for nurses attacked at work. The Department of Health and Children and Health Services Executive Employers Agency had made commitments to implement the scheme following a union-employer taskforce and then following the intervention of the Labour Relations Commission. But with no further progress nurses voted by a 10-to-one majority for industrial action. [Read more at > SIPTU (EN)->http://www.siptu.ie/PressRoom/NewsReleases/2006/Name,9280