The executive of the country's largest craft union, the 45,000 strong Technical, Engineering & Electrical Union (TEEU), has instructed its branches and officials to seek a 10 per cent pay rise over 18 months from the time the Towards 2016national pay deal expires.
The decision was made before Government officials met with Ictu General Secretary David Begg yesterday to discuss the possibility of new talks on a national agreement.
TEEU General Secretary Owen Wills said other key elements in the union's claims will include service based increases in holiday leave, paid study leave, inflation proofing of pay rises and profit sharing where appropriate.
Speaking today Mr Wills said the union urgently needed to protect members' living standards.
"We have to deal with the reality that
Towards 2016is running out, or has already run out for many of our members and we urgently need to protect their living standards."
"Top executives have not been slow to award themselves increases averaging 12 per cent and ranging up to 30 per cent in the past year, according to the Hewitt Associates survey published last Friday," he said.
"They cannot seriously expect everybody else to accept a pay pause while they continue to wallow in the trough. Unlike these executives, who I understand earn anything from €496,000 a year in the lowest quartile to €2 million plus in the top quartile, our members cannot afford a pay freeze."
Mr Wills said it was "even more galling" that the credit squeeze and the collapse of the housing sector were directly attributable to these "so-called leaders of the business community."
"They have no shame and no sense of responsibility for their actions, only an exaggerated sense of their own entitlements. Our members are seeking no more than they need to protect their living standards and those of their families," he said.