Strong adherence to P2000 pay terms

An independent analysis of 778 pay settlements, published in October 1998, shows that while there has been more pay drift than under earlier Irish national pay programmes, the overall level of adherence to the basic pay terms of the current Partnership 2000 agreement remains strong.

Most Irish companies are maintaining their pay increases in line with the level agreed in the current three-year Partnership 2000 (P2000) pay agreement (IE9702103F), according to a survey by the independent Dublin-based Industrial Relations News (IRN), and published in its October 1998 issue. The survey shows, however, that the extent of pay drift over the past 18 months is larger than that witnessed during any of the series of national pay agreements which commenced in 1987. The 778 pay settlements on which the analysis is based were recorded by the research department of Ireland's largest trade union, the Services, Industrial, Professional and Technical Union (SIPTU), and made available to IRN.

Given the high rate of economic growth, labour shortages in certain sectors and increased expectations amongst employees generally, the current P2000 agreement (1997-2000) was expected to come under more pressure than its predecessors - the Programme for National Recovery (1987-90), the Programme for Economic and Social Progress (1991-3) and the Programme for Competitiveness and Work (1994-6). However, the overall level of adherence to P2000 remains impressive at around 89%, compared with levels of up to 95% for the earlier agreements.

What has happened, however, is that in those companies which have paid "above the nationally agreed level", there has been a higher degree of pay innovation than was seen previously. Pay drift in the companies surveyed no longer leads to matching or "leapfrogging" claims. Instead, in cases where additional pay rises were negotiated, these were generally related to profitability, performance, gainsharing or partnership-style arrangements.

The main findings of the survey are as follows:

• of 788 settlements, there were 89 cases (11.2%) where the increases were above the 9.25% norm;

• 91.3% of the settlements involved private sector firms, with the remaining 9.7% covering the public sector. (Commercial semi-state companies, such as the Ireland's sole electricity company, the ESB, Telecom Eireann, the Aer Lingus airline and the An Post postal service, are all covered by exactly the same terms as private sector firms. The terms covering public service workers, such as civil servants, the police, nurses and the army, are broadly similar, but they involve different phasing and an alternative method of negotiating the 2% local bargaining increase which is common to all sectors.);

• in 141 cases (17%), "fringe benefits" were agreed (these exclude pension and sick pay elements, but include items such as annual leave, health benefits or service pay);

• in 113 cases (14.3%) pension or sick pay schemes were either improved or introduced for the first time (these items are specifically catered for under P2000).