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OVER THE PAST 24 months, the Mandate trade union says they have managed to secure more than €20 million in pay increases for 40,000 of their union members.
Addressing 300 delegates at the unions biennial delegate conference in Killarney, General Secretary John Douglas urged more workers to join unions so they can work on their behalf to get pay rises from their employers.
Retailers
Mandate, who represents 45,000 retail and bar workers in Ireland, have won pay increases in some of the biggest retailers in Ireland. Here is a breakdown of what percentage of pay increase they have secured in each company:
Mandate members in the retail sector have been very successful in achieving higher rates of pay and better security of hours since our last conference two years ago,” said Douglas.
Tax cuts
Yesterday, speaking on RTÉ radio, Douglas said that pay increases for workers should now be introduced, stating that tax cuts would not benefit Mandate members as most don’t earn enough to pay tax.
Douglas said pay increases make sense as most of all their members’ disposable income is generated back in to the local economy, in the local shops, restaurants, bars and other local businesses.
“By winning these pay increases, Mandate members have put an extra €20m spending power into the local economy, which in turn will protect existing jobs and hopefully create more decent jobs in every community across Ireland,” he said.
Douglas added:
Winning pay increases in profitable enterprises will reduce poverty levels. It will increase revenue for government through extra income tax, USC, PRSI and VAT receipts, meaning we can invest in better public services.
It will also mean we have more ability to pay off the odious banking debt that was thrust on Irish workers illegitimately, meaning future generations won’t have to pay as much for the banking crisis created by Ireland’s elites.
He stated that Irish workers are underpaid by comparison with our European neighbours. “We’re also more productive and Irish company profits are rising at a faster rate than the EU average,” he added.
Douglas concluded by saying that Mandate is determined to reduce poverty levels in Irish society by putting “more spending power into our members’ pockets and we’re determined to ensure that decent work becomes the norm for the Irish workforce. We make no apologies for achieving these goals by collectively bargaining and winning pay increases for our members”.
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The government should kick start the domestic economy by scrapping USC, have the higher rate of tax on €70k and over. Reduce VAT to 20%. Will create thousands of jobs.
If only it were that easy. The tax take is bad enough as it is. Increasing the higher rate to €70k would hammer it. It’s also likely that people would just save the excess or use it to pay off debt which wouldn’t exactly “kick start” the economy. I think people are in denial of how screwed we actually are! As much as I dislike the current Govt, there’s no quick fix.
I don’t think that USC will ever be scrapped. If they could half the 2% and 4% rares to 1% and 2% it would be a good boost to people, especially those on low incomes.
But in relation to what this article is about, what do you think about the unions getting pay increases for people? At the cost of the general public? and the countries competitiveness?
Worms, I’d normally be the first to talk about competitiveness and wage restraint. However, it just doesn’t apply to this end of the jobs market.
In an around the minimum wage level, only the tourism industry is competing internationally. We’re not competing in textiles and low-end manufacturing anymore.
When we speak about competitiveness we talk about outside money going elsewhere for the purchase of goods and services. I’m not sure how much international money gets spent in the stores who’s workers are represented by mandate.
Not all pay directly relates to international competition, and retail is well documented as being provided at a much higher margin in Ireland. The room is there for improved wages. It probably isn’t there in the hotel industry, however, as we’ve really cut down room rates.
Where wage restraint is mostly required is in manufacturing and exports, and I include my own MNC work in that category. If we can show wage restraint in these areas, we can have a mini-boom in the export industry and really grow the economy. The problem there, however, is that people in that category tend to bargain individually, have very portable jobs, and can take off to other countries if they don’t like the conditions here any more.
If you ask me, there’s upward pressure on wages across the board. Not necessarily a bad thing as long as there’s some inflation to go with it, both nationally and internationally, as there’s a lot of debt throughout the economy that needs shrinking.
That would over night increase spending and jobs but they won’t do that because they are not
I’m surprised at some of the comments on here. Irish people are beginning to sound more and more like some member of American Republican Party by the day!
All of the companies mentioned in the article are highly profitable. Their staff, however, often earn wages that aren’t far above the minimum wage. I’m sure the companies can afford the 2 to 4% pay increase.
I don’t work in the public sector and I’m not a member of a trade union (yet) but I can’t understand how anti union so many Irish people are. I can understand why people might attack unions when they encourage workers in certain important sectors of the economy to go on strike – I’m thinking of the well paid ESB workers here! But I can’t understand the constant backlash against unions in Ireland, especially when they negotiate small wage increases for hard working low-paid workers.
Do we honestly want to live in a society where there are no unions and employers have almost complete control over their employees? It would just be zero hour contracts, temp work, low pay and dismal employment benefits and conditions for everyone.
i guess one reason i dont like the unions here is they seem to always go after pay increases. I think they should go after job security like the unions do in germany. hardly anyone lost their jobs there. here if you lose your job your not their problem any more. And they pay themselves too a high a salary , david begg €153000 and the beards…………………….. rant over
Unions… Always doing the best for their members… Except when there is a opportunity for the union leaders to get their greasy paws on money for themselves. Self serving money grabbers.
Im sorry but how obnoxious are you?these are mostly families on low income that are getting these pay increases!2.5-3%increases could make a huge difference for them and for their families, If you don’t agree with unions thats your prerogative but i don’t see how you can leave a comment like that when the people who benefited here are the workers, it proves that collective bargaining work and thank god because its in these hard times that we need it most!
I’d imagine the Union Leaders will have to justify their extraordinary salaries and expenses in some way.
You are right they should . These are supposed to be a collective of workers each one vote and supposed to be open and fair .we collectively pay dues and like any other club expenses should be open to its members .if our trade unions have to hide expenses from members . What hope do we have of the wider circle be any more open . a victory for tradeunionism here . But how many workers rights are being “talked” about .
Just like any politicians these guys and girls have to appear to be active. These wins look like a bit of low hanging fruit to keep the masses at bay. Totally dishonest really. I’d pity the poor saps paying fees each week to be then patronised by a “Beardy Buddha’s” earning CEO level salaries throwing a few shapes for the camera’s.
News just in – Mandate has secured pay increases equal to the impending water charge for its members. Under this arrangement, the government will be €20m better off, there will be no extra money in circulation as it will go to irish water, the employees will be locked out of any further pay increases until at least 2018 and union heads will feel pleased that their salaries are justified.
Excellent stuff.
Almost all pay deals are for 12months. And 2-3% pay increases are better that the increases in the non-union sectors (0%). Yes, the government is about to take almost all of it back the alternative of not winning pay increases would mean workers facing a 2-3% decrease in effective income. Finally, Mandate members won the increase. Not the union leaders. It’s always the members who win.
50% of the pay increases will paid in taxes, 100%+ passed on to the consumer thus increasing the cost of living for the populous. This increases the cost of running businesses in Ireland and also helps to reduce our competitiveness and reduce our ability to attract new businesses in Ireland. Well done Mandate, good job, NOT.
You think someone working in Argos or Penneys pays taxes at the higher rate? In their dreams they do, and a 2-5% pay rise isn’t bringing them much closer to it.
As for the increased margin, the profits will have increased before any company agrees to pay rises. If that involved a price increase, it’s already built in.
New businesses are not bound by these rates, they are not JLC rates. I think, given our unemployment figures, new businesses would have no problem hiring people at whatever Argos / Penneys were paying last year.
I’m no trumpeter of Unions, believe me, but this seems to be a union working as it should, by tapping employers on the shoulder and saying “Hey, we haven’t had increases in a while, clearly sales are improving, how about an extra 50c an hour for the lads?”, to which the employers have responded with “Here’s 25c an hour if you go away and promise not to picket”.
There hasn’t been picket lines, I don’t really see your issue with what is at best an increase to (partially) match the cost of living increases over the past few years
OK, fair comment about the taxes. It was more of a sweeping statement about the unions getting pay increases for people, but at the cost of the consumer. I somehow doubt the companies where wages/salaries have been increased are absorbing these extra costs themselves.
Thinking about it, if you increase someone’s pay by say 10%, the cost of products effectively need to rise to cover the cost of that pay increase. Lets say the product cost rises by 10% also, that means that anyone paying 50%+ tax has to earn in effect is hit with a 20%+ price increase in the product they choose.
The negativity of the people on here is unreal most of you need to get happy instead of looking at the doom and gloom in everything that is posted on the journal
The union rep stated that increasing the cost of employing people by more pay increases will lead to more jobs,really,unless accompanied by higher productivity, i would have thought that it would have the opposite effect of less employment or increasing the costs for consumers who usually end up paying in higher prices,thats the way it works in the real world anyway.
All 9 companies mentioned here are competing in the retail area,these pays increases will just be passed onto the ordinary punter in the street in the form of price increases at the till,making goods and services that are already expensive in Ireland even more so.
This is false economy stuff but sure as long as the unions look after themselves and their members sure where’s the harm eh???The rest of us can go and SH1TE.
How many of these companies ever stopped paying increases? I know for a fact that two of the retailers mentioned continued to pay increases over the past 5 years.
This is just classic ‘union trying to justify it’s existence’ stuff.
The US retailers now based in Ireland such as Google and FB don’t have union representation and their staff are happy out. Not to mention the booming ifsc.
Unions are a thing of the past. It’s time to take them out to pasture and keep your subs to buy an ice cream. It will make you feel better.
It proves the reason why shopping at non-unionised retailers such as Aldi or Lidl is cheaper.
These companies are more competitive, more productive and more efficient because they’re not being dictated to by a greed self-serving union, who are only interested in lining their own pockets.
Wage increases = increased price of products for the consumer.
Consumer prices in Ireland are already some of the highest in Europe.
The madness has to stop.
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