The increasingly strange role of Unions!

Watching Jack O Connor on TV3 announcing the current budget as "a declaration of war on lower income people in the country who contributed least to the cause of the problems" usually would ring true for me looking at our current budget. However last night I had a curious reaction to Jack O Connors words especially as a person who broadly supports the role of social contract and trade unions. That reaction being that the ICTU's current actions are hypocritical to say the least.

Over the last few days numerous commentators, talking heads and aficionados from ICTU have been rolled out to attack the current budget for targeting the poorest and most vulnerable in our society and they in many ways are right. We have seen in the last a series of regressive taxs proposed, cuts to frontline services and other measures proposed which will proportionally effect the poor more drastically. Why then does ICTU's representations on the matter ring hollow?

About a year ago now there were a series of strikes and threatened industrial actions taken by the Unions in response to a perceived threat to public sector pay and pensions, the end of social partnership as we knew it. The government its wisdom decided to retain a semblance of normality and avoid prolonged industrial action so they say down with the unions and talk out a deal. A month later we had the much debated Croke Park agreement! Public sector pay was to be off limits in the cuts that are no doubt needed in exchange for concessions in terms of the structure of the public service.

So what has this got to do with the current budget? Ireland current government spending is about 54 billion in total( and our tax take about 32billion), just under 20 billion of this is on public sector pay and pensions or about 35%. The actions of the ICTU and the Croke park deal have cordoned off about 35% of our spending to be saved from any significant cuts (indeed top level public sector workers have taken proportionally very little of a hit) thus forcing any government to look elsewhere for savings bar some cost efficiencies.

Where then will the government look?

To capital spending(killing off jobs for labour intensive workers), to front line services, to the very people Jack O Connor claims a "declaration of war" is being announced on. Its a curious country where the role of Unions has resulted in the vulnerable in society being hit to save middle income earners - who are relatively very well payed compared to their British or European counterparts - from cuts which are no doubt necessary to find a more balanced fiscal situation for the country.

Maybe it is time for ICTU and the Unions to think about their own role in the "declaration of war" or indeed their role in the future of our society? It seems to me they have become a number one variable in marginalising the people they would no doubt claim to represent.