SIPTU makes modest progress on local pay deals

In October 1999, Ireland's largest trade union, SIPTU, revealed that of 160 companies which have concluded locally-based "partnership" agreements, over half have also included some form of financial reward in excess of the basic terms of the current national agreement, Partnership 2000.

A survey of 1,286 pay settlements concluded by the Services Industrial Professional and Technical Union (SIPTU) under the the current national agreement of Partnership 2000 (P2000) (IE9702103F), shows that in 160 cases, specific enterprise-level "partnership" agreements (IE9811264N) were also agreed. Over 50% of these incorporated a financial element in excess of the basic terms of the three-year national agreement.

The figures were released by SIPTU, Ireland's largest union, in mid-October 1999 at a conference on pay and reward at the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions in Loughlinstown, Co Dublin. The union said that all 160 companies concluded agreements on "some form of employee participation" and that in 71 cases - covering just 12,000 workers - these agreements covered the following:

• gainsharing agreements (42%);

• profit-sharing schemes (35%)

• employee share option schemes (14%);

• share purchase schemes (6%); and

• "other" forms of financial involvement (3%).

SIPTU claimed that gainsharing agreements have yielded, on average, increases of 5% to 6% above the basic pay rises under P2000, while profit-sharing agreements have yielded an extra 2% to 7.5% per annum.

The industry with the highest recorded number of such agreements is engineering, followed closely by chemicals and the building industry. The union said that it was pleased that the textiles sector also featured strongly alongside the electronics industry, while the other industries covered were transport, services, printing, food, energy, drinks and distribution.

While it is evident from SIPTU's own figures that the gains made have been relatively modest, such local arrangements may point the way forward by relating pay to performance-related criteria. It is certain that SIPTU and other trade unions will be looking for further progress in this direction in 2000 as P2000 will have expired in most areas of employment within the next six months. Negotiations on a new national agreement are expected to commence shortly (IE9906281N).

Speaking at the conference, the SIPTU vice-president, Des Geraghty, pointed out that the agreements referred to are only those which have been negotiated within the lifetime of P2000. The union has many other profit-sharing agreements already in place, while negotiations are continuing with other employers on similar schemes. Mr Geraghty concluded that: "We have had no difficulty in opening negotiations with employers who recognise the contribution made to their profits by the workforce. A workforce which has then been able to maximise their earnings potential under P2000 whilst at the same time experience a greater sense of participation in the future of their company."