I beg to differ - the so called compromise is in fact another nail in the coffin of our economy. Here we have workers in the most severly impacted sector of the economy (employment levels down by 50% and falling) arguing that they are 'entitled' to a certain income level under the terms of a Registered Employment Agreement (REA). What a brilliant idea - why don't we all contract to REAs, lets say, with a minimum pay level of €25/hour. Now, if everyone in the country is paid this rate, then according to the 'brothers' logic, the race to the bottom will be stopped in its tracks, as all tenders for work would be pitched at the same price - perhaps contracts would be awarded on some other criteria e.g. best looking workers, or funniest worker or cleverest worker. We could all live happily every after......One slight problem though......for this to work, we would need the rest of the world to agree to pay us above market prices to sustain our utopia.....all we need to do is persuade the other 6 billion people on the planet that we are 'special' and should be allowed to defy the fundamental laws of economics. Alternatively, and apologies in advance for the riduculus suggestion - we could recognise that we have priced ourselves out of world markets, and that no one owes us a living, and to attain a reasonable and sustainable standard of living we will have to compete, in terms of price, quality and service - at home and abroad................mad or what........