Fighting the pay cut: McLoone makes no impact!
By Tadhg Kenehan
THE RESPONSE of the IMPACT leaders to the attack by the government on the wages of public sector workers has demonstrated bankruptcy at the heart of the leadership.
The Consultative council of IMPACT met on 4 February. Those attending reflected the real anger felt by the members at the government attack on public sector workers. What was the response of the right wing leadership to this anger? They are organising a lobbying of TDs on Valentine’s Day! This is a total disgrace and a betrayal of workers.
Workers in the public sector are calling out for their unions to show some leadership and defend them. Years of social partnership have left Peter McLoone and the leadership of IMPACT bereft of ideas. McLoone has been exposed as out of touch with the membership. His wages from IMPACT are €150,000 and he gets another ?25,000 from his chairmanship of FAS. How can he know what it is like to live on the average wage of a public sector worker – they don’t have expense accounts they can use for trips to Florida!
One IMPACT member said “The only thing that I got from the Celtic Tiger was a huge mortgage. Now I am being asked to take a pay cut while banks and the property developers that caused this problem in the first place are being bailed out”. She asked that seeing as her earnings are being reduced, is the bank going to accept ?4,000 a year less?
IMPACT members want action. A ballot for industrial action should begin immediately. Our union should be meeting with other public sector unions to organise a co-ordinated and militant campaign.
