Jack Wall accuses IBEC of pursing old and bitter agenda
Issued : Monday 19 January, 2009
Areas : General
Labour T.D. for Kildare South, Jack Wall, has joined with the Leader of the Labour Party, Eamon Gilmore TD, to criticise the call made by IBEC for cuts in public service pensions and he has accused the employers' organisation of pursuing an old and bitter agenda.
"Within the past few weeks we have calls from IBEC for cuts in public service pay and massive cuts in the numbers employed in the public service. Now IBEC has decided to target public service pensioners.
"The National Minimum Wage is in their sights and I have no doubt that if the government does impose wage cuts, the next IBEC target will be social welfare rates, on the grounds that there will then not be a sufficient differential between social welfare rates and reduced rates of pay.
"It seems to me that IBEC have made a conscious decision to take advantage of our very real economic difficulties to try to turn the clock back and to reverse the advances that have been made for workers in both the public and private sectors over recent decades.
"I have acknowledged that public sector pay constitutes a very significant part of public expenditure and must be in the mix in terms of any remedial measures to deal with the current crisis. However, we should not allow public service workers or pensioners to become soft targets for the comfortable bosses in IBEC.
"Some of the IBEC suggestions have been ludicrous, including the call to cut 70,000 public service jobs. Such a purge of public sector workers would devastate virtually every public service including those on which IBEC members depend.
"If we are to overcome the current crisis it will need a cooperative effort from unions, employers and politicians. The sort of narrow, partisan agenda being pursued by IBEC is doing nothing for this effort."
