Widespread industrial action as national pay deal is reviewed

A rash of industrial conflict – involving action by teachers, health administrators, airline workers, rail workers and miners – made November 2000 a fractious time at which to conduct delicate talks on the review of Ireland's current national wage agreement.

In November 2000, a spate of strikes – most of them in the public sector and several causing transport chaos – created a difficult atmosphere as the social partners tried to agree a deal that would compensate workers for the upsurge in inflation in 2000 (IE0010159F), and so save the current national wage deal, the Programme for Prosperity and Fairness (PPF) (IE0003149F). At the start of December 2000, the talks were reaching a critical point, with reports that employers were seeking new strike prevention measures in return for talks on a extra pay increase.

The single most serious dispute involved 18,000 secondary-level teachers, whose union, the Association of Secondary Teachers in Ireland (ASTI) was seeking a 30% pay rise (IE0011224N). While only one full strike day took place in November, schools were closed for six more days, as the teachers withdrew voluntary supervision of students during break times, which meant that schools could not guarantee student safety.

Strikes by 140 railway signal workers also shut down inter-city rail services for three days, but a further strike was deferred to allow balloting over new proposals on pay. Proposals on a separate pay deal for 55 rapid transit DART drivers in Dublin were accepted, but a group of 300 level-crossing keepers still threatened two one-day strikes on 15 and 22 December.

A planned strike on 24 November by pilots at the Ryanair airline was deferred, following a further pay offer from the company. Ryanair pilots in Ireland and in the UK– in separate unions in each country – had become members of each others' unions for a small additional fee. This "joint membership" approach allowed each union to support any industrial action by the other, making it difficult for the company to use pilots from one country to replace striking pilots in the other.

Meanwhile, at the state airline, Aer Lingus, 400 catering staff held a one-day stoppage on 15 November, after rejecting proposals for a 10% pay increase. This threw into doubt progress that had been made since the multiple disputes at the company in October (IE0011223N).

About 1,500 administrative staff at the Eastern Regional Health Authority suspended their one-day stoppages and work-to-rule to consider an offer of extra training benefits. However, 300 miners at Tara Mines entered their third week on strike at the start of December, in a dispute over the use of contractors.