The Galway Chamber cautiously welcomed last week’s national pay agreement but voiced concerns that it will not enhance the country’s international competitiveness.
In a statement released to Galway First, Chamber CEO Michael Coyle said, “From Galway Chamber’s perspective we believe that while the proposed National Pay Deal has the potential to provide stability in the current challenging economic climate, we are not convinced that the deal will enhance Ireland’s competitiveness and Ireland will as a result continue to be viewed by potential inward investing companies as a high labour cost location.
Mr Coyle also welcomed the pay pause in the public sector but added, “We continue to be concerned at the overall Public Service pay bill and its knock-on effects at local level on commercial rates charges for Galway businesses.”
He continued, “In the current economic climate wage negotiations are less about the willingness of employers to pay increases and more about the ability of employers to pay increases and many companies will have no option but to implement pay freezes over the coming months if they are to have any chance of maintaining overall job levels and staying open”.
The new national pay deal was agreed last week after exhausting negotiations between business leaders, unions and Government.
The deal sees a pay increase of six per cent for all workers to be paid over 21 months.
The money is to be paid in two phases with a 0.5 per cent increase at the end of the agreement for workers earning less than €430.49 per week, or around €22,463 per annum.
All private sector workers will have a three-month pay pause. They will then receive a 3.5 per cent increase over six months and a further 2.5 per cent for the following year.
Public sector workers will have an 11-month pay pause.
