On Saturday RTE reported that the Government is to engage with unions after calls for a review of the public sector pay agreement due to the rising cost of living. Kevin Callinan features in this report by Michael Lehane.

As we entered the weekend news broke that Amazon workers in New York had voted to form a union in an “historic victory” against the US’s second largest employer. For an illustration of just how hostile Amazon is as an employer, check out these 30 reasons why you should not use Amazon.

Wednesday's meeting of the Oireachtas Health Committee should be interesting as health department chief Robert Watt will be asked to explain comments he's made on the implementation of Sláintecare. He's reported to have told officials he was worried about “endless claims” from healthcare unions during restructuring processes envisaged in the plan, including the regionalisation of the health service. The Business Post had the scoop yesterday, in which Watt is reported to have told his officials he wanted a 'minimalist approach' to the planned reforms.

Elsewhere, The Indo reports SIPTU is urging the Government to allow employers to double the permitted amount of tax-free vouchers they can give to workers (to €1,000) in order to help offset soaring living costs.

Meanwhile, over in the Business Post, Brian Keegan (Chartered Accountants Ireland) argues that a wage increase would generate hundreds of millions of euro in tax yield "without much political or social pushback." He estimates a 5% wage increase for all workers might yield a recurring €800m increase in income tax, with USC and PRSI driving this over the €1bn mark. 

Zen

Your Zen this morning is some suitably defiant music linked to the image above, with a shout out to the Amazon Labor Union organisers.

Have a great week

Niall