Leviathan debate. Thursday 8th April. Re Unions

[Brendan Burgess]

Leviathan: Political Cabaret

The Button Factory, Curved Street, Temple Bar, Dublin 2.

Thursday, April 8th.

Show: 8.30pm

In Association with Newstalk 106-108.

Leviathan returns to Dublin’s Button Factory on Thursday April 8th with host David McWilliamsto ask “Can the Unions be Part of Ireland’s Economic Recovery?” with panelists John McGuinness TD; , General Secretary of the CPSU; Richard Delevan, Deputy MD of McConnellsintegrated; and Dr. Kieran Allen, lecturer in sociology at UCD.
Now that a deal has been done between the Government and the public service unions on pay and reform, Leviathan takes a look at how Irish unions operate, how they interact with Government and how thet relationship affects those outside the process and the country at large.
Do the unions have a role to play in Ireland’s economic recovery or are they an existential threat to the future?
Plus music and political satire from Paddy Cullivan and[broken link removed][broken link removed]from The Emergency.
Tickets €17.50 including booking fee available [broken link removed]
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[D8Lady]

I went along to this.

Two points stood out for me:

Unions are sticking to the line that based on CSO statistics (6 months out of date) there is no evidence of private sector wage cuts, so why should their members take wage cuts.

They were quite serious on this point, que much heckling from audience.

Unions also mentioned that the government dont' have a mandate for wage cuts.
It was pointed out by one audience member that the government were elected but he didn't vote for unions, much to the annoyance of union rep.

While I'd have sympathy for protection people from exploitation etc, unions are living in parallel universe, they really, really don't get what's going on.