Congress Defers Decision on New Talks
25 Oct 2005
'Timing is not right'
Congress today (October 25) formally decided to defer a decision on entering any new negotiations on a successor to Sustaining Progress.
At a Special Delegate Conference convened in Dublin this morning, some 400 delegates unanimously endorsed an Executive Council recommendation that they "not make any decision at this time to enter talks."
Addressing conference, Congress General Secretary David Begg said "the timing is not right" for new talks and that more work needed to be done.
"We need a sea change in our approach to regulation and enforcement of employment protection and conditions, Mr Begg said.
Mr Begg condemned employers for their silence on key issues such as Social Dumping and poor compliance with agreed employment standards. Such practices were, he said, "neither morally acceptable nor socially sustainable."
The employers' silence on these crucial issues contrasted with their readiness to criticise workers in An Post, who had not broken any agreement.
Referring to the recent letter to Congress from An Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern, TD, Mr Begg said the letter was welcome but clarification was required around the issues raised in the letter.
"While we don't need to see - and are not asking to see - actual legislation enacted in advance of new talks, we do need to see the blueprint, we need to see what the plans are."
ends