Unions are to lodge pay claims with individual employers following the breakdown of national pay negotiations between the social partners early this morning.
Talks between the social partners on a new national agreement ended shortly before 4 am with a large gap remaining between employers and unions on the issue of pay.
Congress general secretary David Begg said there were no further talks scheduled and that unions would begin serving pay claims with individual employers.
Mr Begg also confirmed that congress officials and the private sector committee would meet at the earliest opportunity in order to formulate strategy with regard to pay claims and improved terms and conditions.
IBEC said this afternoon that it would be advising its member organisations not to engage in local bargaining until all avenues at reaching a new agreement have been exhausted.
At the talks the employer's body resisted union pressure for annual pay increases of around 5 per cent to compensate for the rise in inflation.
One proposal floated at the meeting was for an initial pay freeze for 12 months as part of a 21 month pay deal with a 5 per cent increase after that. In addition, a call for some of the more vulnerable sectors of the economy to be exempt from any pay increases at all was also rejected.
A proposal for a flat rate increase which would disproportionally benefit lower paid workers also did not find favour.
In addition, the union delegation, led by Ictu president Patricia McKeown, expressed strong opposition to a proposal which would widen the scope of the inability to pay clause of the current agreement in any new deal.
Siptu president Jack O'Connor said that the union would be "pressing ahead with claims to protect workers' living standards" across all the sectors of the economy in which the union organises.
Meanhile, Unite, the country's second largest trade union with over 60,000 members laid the blame for the collapse of pay talks firmly at the door of employers.
"Workers were being asked to carry the entire economy on their backs," said Unite regional secretary Jimmy Kelly. "There was no willingness on the part of employers to make any offer that would relieve the pressure of inflation, rising energy and food costs on the working people who are increasingly finding it hard to cover the basics of life in Ireland in 2008,"
Unite said it will begin starting to lodge pay claims on behalf of its members within the next two weeks.
Mandate, which represents over 44,000 wholesale and retail workers, including many in the hotel sector, said it was "very disappointed" with the failure of last night's talks.
"The talks have failed because the employer's bodies fail to recognise that Irish workers are suffering from huge inflationary pressures and are really struggling at the moment. Ictu and Government were committed to a flat rate increase for all employees which would protect low paid workers from dropping below the poverty line," said Mandate general secretary John Douglas this afternoon.
"Ibec put forward a proposal seeking an initial pay freeze for six months which from our point of view is unrealistic. Workers have already had what is essentially a pay freeze for the last year due to cost of living increases and now the employer's bodies want workers to take what is really a pay cut for the next six months," he added.
Ibec's director general Turlough O'Sullivan hit back at criticism from the union, this afternoon claiming that the organisation was committed to concluding an agreement that would provide moderate pay increases following a pay pause over a transitional period of 21 months.
Mr O'Sullivan said that Ibec was unable to agree to Ictu demands for flat rate increases because these would have been detrimental to small and medium-sized businesses which were already under severe pressure.
"Ireland is facing the most challenging economic conditions since the late 80s and it requires leadership by government, trade unions and business to put in place arrangements that will help us to regain competitiveness and protect the maximum number of jobs," said Mr O'Sullivan.
Elsewhere, Chambers Ireland chief executive Ian Talbot claimed today that employers had offered a "sensible deal given the current economic climate" and said it was unfortunate that unions did not accept that "pay restraint and flexibility" were essential.
"As a small, highly globalised and open economy competitiveness is crucial. The collapse of these talks, combined with the collapse of the World Trade Organisation talks earlier this week we, mean that we as a nation, must do everything in our power to ensure that our exports remain competitive in international markets and we remain attractive to companies already operating here and those considering investing here," saidTalbot.
