The executive council of SIPTU has decided today to recommend acceptance of the new partnership agreement Sustaining Progressto its 220,000 members.
The national executive council met this morning and the news of the recommendation was announced shortly after 2 p.m.
Members of SIPTU will vote on the new national deal between March 3rd and March 24th. As the country's largest union, SIPTU's position is seen as crucial to the new deal being ratified at the Irish Congress of Trade Union's special delegate conference next month.
SIPTU's general president, Mr Des Geraghty, said that in recommending Sustaining Progress, "the executive registered their concern about certain aspects of the agreement and reflected many of the misgivings expressed by some delegates at the Special Delegate Consultative Conference, yesterday.
"However, on balance, in view of the economic uncertainty and the many positive developments on issues such as: improved statutory redundancy entitlements; union representation; housing; social policy; minimum wage and workplace rights, the Executive believe that a relatively short Agreement - with the clear commitment that negotiations on a replacement will take place in March 2004 - would be in the interests of workers in all sectors as well as the unemployed and those on social welfare," he added.
Meanwhile, the executive of Mandate, the trade union which represents bar workers and retail trade workers will, following a meting today, recommend rejection of the agreement to its members because it has reservations about what it sees as inadequate pay provisions.
The general secretary of Mandate, Mr Owen Nulty told ireland.comthat the new pay deal has not answered any of its members demands.
"It offers too little to the low paid and does not attempt to bridge the gap between the low-paid and high-paid. There is no provision to improve pension scheme's for low paid workers", he said.
Mr Nulty added Sustaining Progress failed to conclusively tackle the issue of trade union recognition.
"Our members also have strong concerns relating to the sections of theproposed agreement with regard to trade union recognition, which representanother missed opportunity to enhance the rights of workers to berepresented by a trade union.
"The proposals in Sustaining Progress aresimply an exercise in tinkering around the edges of the existing voluntarycode of practice and do not represent any form of meaningful change. Basedon our experience in dealing with employers who are hostile to dealing withtrade unions, we believe that these provisions are inadequate", Mr Nultyconcluded.