Below-inflation means a pay cut
Workers will get only a 9.75% pay rise directly from this deal over 33 months. This is a below-inflation pay rise and a de facto pay cut. It should be rejected. Only this week was it revealed that the annualised inflation rate for October was 4.3%; in September it was 4.1%. This is not just about figures; we feel this every day. Too many of us are living paycheque to paycheque, struggling to put food on the table, unable to put fuel in our car, or worried about turning on the heat during these freezing nights. This crisis is being fueled by a crisis-ridden system; continuing imperialist wars, climate catastrophe and trade wars are all going to push prices up. Put simply, inflation does not look like it is going to come down; on the contrary, it will continue to erode our living standards unless we get pay rises to match it.
We cannot rely on local bargaining
This is a single-digit pay increase. We cannot rely on the supposed 1% pay rise that we are supposed to get via local bargaining. Many local bargaining cases from the previous pay deal were not resolved. There’s no reason to think that it will be different this time.
Government can rip this up
There is a review clause in this deal that the Government can use to undermine it: if economic circumstances change, they can basically rip it up and refuse to give the pay increases. The bursting of the AI bubble will result in a dip in revenue from corporation tax, which is boosting Government surpluses. We have been here before. Once again, workers will be made to pay for this capitalist crisis.
Pushing AI in the workplace
This deal pushes AI further into the workplace, which will be a real concern to many workers. Over time, this will increasingly be linked with deskilling/cutting across career progression and replacing jobs. While there may be “consultation” about this, in reality, such a process will be a rubber stamp.
Workers’ power can win wage rises
Let’s embrace the fighting spirit of the Gen Z revolts—We need a fighting trade union movement, with workers in the driving seat, that demands inflation-busting pay rises. One day of strike action shook this right-wing government and gave all workers a confidence boost about their power. They conceded a further 3%. Further sustained action could/would win further real pay rises over and above inflation. Ireland’s richest 11 billionaires have over €46 billion in wealth. The richest 10% own 50% of the wealth. Vulture funds and landlords are making a mint while we cannot afford to buy homes. The money is there to pay for a pay rise; it’s just in the wrong hands!
We need a trade union movement that will take action on the housing crisis, opposes water- and electricity-guzzling data centres, challenges gender-based violence, takes on racism, LGBTQphobia and the rising far-right, and the Irish state’s complicity in the genocide in Palestine. Our power needs to be mobilised in both the public and private sectors, and rejecting this deal is the first step to building the working-class movement we need. Capitalism is giving us a future that we cannot accept. The crisis we feel in our lives and witness across the planet cannot be tolerated.
