The second phase of the national pay deal Sustaining Progress has been officially recommended to members by the national executive of Siptu, although the State's largest union has expressed some reservations about "inadequate" progress in areas such as housing, healthcare and education.
A ballot of almost 200,000 Siptu members will now take place on the offer of a 5.5 per cent pay increase, in three phases, over 18 months for most workers. The ballot will take a number of weeks. Those earning under €9 an hour would receive an additional half per cent.
It had been expected that the union's national executive would endorse the deal, not least because employers were not expected concede a better deal.
The result of the ballot will determine Siptu's position at a Irish Congress of Trade Unions conference on September 1st, when unions will vote on the deal.
Yesterday, Siptu president Mr Jack O'Connor, said Sustaining Progress had delivered pay increases significantly ahead of inflation.
In a statement this evening, Siptu said its national executive had today considered the proposals under part 2 of Sustaining Progress.
SIPTU said every national agreement since 1987 was based on a combination of pay and tax measures. However, despite the commitments set out in part 1 of the Sustaining Progress agreement on taxation, no progress was made in Budget 2004.
It said the Government was "pressed strongly" on this matter during the negotiations and, given the healthy state of the public finances, it fully expects there will be a "significant increase" in take-home pay, over and above the proposed wage increases, between now and the end of the agreement.
The executive was particularly conscious that the proposed increases of 5.5 per cent - or 6 per cent for those earning €9 an hour or less - would extend over a period when higher growth and inflation is expected.
However, SIPTU said progress on healthcare, education and housing, which is critical to the social partnership process, had been "inadequate to say the least" during the last 18 months.
The union welcomed the proposed increase in the statutory redundancy ceiling to €600 per week and improvements in maternity benefit, but said only minimal progress had been achieved on the critical issues of pensions, employment rights in companies contracting to the public sector and a "properly staffed" Labour Inspectorate.
SIPTU said it was also obvious a major campaign would be required to "shift official thinking" on the issue of childcare.
"The proposal on the future development of policy in the commercial semi-State sector, would represent some improvement. However, experience over the last eighteen months has shown that persuading certain Government ministers to comply with the agreement poses its own difficulties."
"Having considered the various options, the National Executive Council is satisfied that the terms proposed are the best that can be achieved in a national agreement at this time. A return to free collective bargaining would, at best, result in winners and losers, with the lower paid faring worst of all."
The NEC of the union will review the outcome of Budget 2005 and will "decide on the most appropriate course of action then", the statement concluded.