Union anger at business calls for wage cut

A CONTROVERSIAL call from Galway’s business leaders to impose a ten per cent pay cut across the board has been ridiculed by angry union officials.Those behind the Galway Chamber of Commerce call have been accused of 'shooting themselves in the foot’ by proposing a measure that would reduce disposable income and affect retail sales in the process.Galway Chamber wants the Government to introduce a mandatory ten per cent pay cut for all workers as part of its submission to the Government on next month’s so-called 'emergency budget’.The Chamber’s Board has made its own submission on the supplementary budget, urging cost cutting across the board as well as a competitiveness drive to get the economy back on track.One of the recommendations is a pay-cut of ten per cent - a call which did not go down well with workers or unions. Chamber President Paul Shelly said that while Galway Chamber has sent a comprehensive list of proposals to Government, the most important short term measures are a ten per cent pay cut across the board, a reduction in the VAT rate and a fixed time period moratorium on residential property stamp duty.But a senior SIPTU official has slammed the proposal asludicrous saying that workers both in the public and private sectors had already been subjected to pay freezes or cuts in their income.Colm Keaveney said that there was likely to be another hike in the income levy along with changes to the income tax bands in the emergency Budget without further wage cuts being imposed.“The Chamber of Commerce in Galway is made up of well rewarded executives who have reaped the benefits of the Celtic Tiger and now just want to stamp on their workers. “But the bottom line of...