Initiative

Negotiating for Equality - Gender and Pay

Summary of the initiative

The Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU) is a trade union confederation, representing and campaigning on behalf of approximately 830,000 working people. There are currently 55 unions affiliated to ICTU.

The confederation is active in promoting all the four priorities of the EU social partners’ framework of actions.

Various toolkits, mainly addressed to trade union negotiators, have been developed over the years. An example of this is the toolkit “Negotiating for Equality - Gender and Pay”, which has an overview of national and EU legislation and explanations of the reasons for the gender pay gap, including points for action to eradicate the gender pay gap. Other ICTU publications were devoted to work-life balance. For example, a toolkit and a manual for negotiators were produced.

ICTU has also been committed to a detailed review of the effectiveness of leave schemes, through its involvement in the National Partnership system. The union contributed to research in Ireland regarding the uptake and availability of leave options (including parental leave), flexible work arrangements and lifelong learning options from the perspective of union members.

Some ICTU affiliates have been successful in negotiating pay deals that impact the gender pay gap.

SIPTU (the Services Industrial Professional and Technical Union) has been campaigning for a number of years for a Fair Deal for Cleaners – a campaign to protect pay and conditions throughout the Contract Cleaning sector. The sector is predominantly female in composition and SIPTU successfully negotiated an employment regulation order for contract cleaners. The agreement protects and enhances the minimum conditions of employment. In contract cleaning, the minimum rate of pay of €9.50 has been set. Having such agreements in place is critical in contracted services in order to take wages out of competition and to avoid placing unionised contractors in an uncompetitive situation.

In 2013 a public sector pay deal (Haddington Road) was concluded in very difficult circumstances, with the government seeking a series of pay and productivity measures to be implemented in order to achieve the necessary €1 billion savings in the cost of the pay and pensions bill over the 3 years from 2013 to 2015. The agreement proposes a reduction in pay only for those on salaries of €65,000 and greater. Given the concentration of women in the lower grades of the civil and public service, one could argue that they were somewhat protected. However, one of the attractions to women working in the public service has been the availability of flexible working arrangements that appear to be undermined.  The agreement talks about updating these and some unions have managed to secure protection for their members, e.g. IMPACT (the largest Public Sector Trade Union) and INMO (the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation) have managed to preserve work-sharing arrangements and flexible attendance arrangements for their members.

MANDATE (the union for retail workers) has been campaigning for respect and decent work for those at risk in the sector (predominantly low-paid and part-timers). The union successfully claimed for a 3% pay rise for Dunnes Stores workforce and the company has informed its 14,000 staff that it would increase their pay in 2013. MANDATE is also seeking a similar increase for the 4,000 workers in the Penney’s retail chain.