IMPACT’s Communications Unit has sent all TDs and senators a briefing on the reasons behind the gap in average earnings in the public and private sectors. The union moved after business and media groups presented new CSO earnings figures as evidence that public service pay restoration was not justified.
Union spokespeople were also out on national and local media this week, refuting claims that public servants earn 48% more than private sector workers.
Making sense of Ireland’s public-private pay gap argues that media headlines always exaggerate the size of the gap, and that commentators seldom attempt to explain the reasons why it exists. “In the recent past, this has fuelled calls for public service pay cuts. These days, it’s being used to argue against pay restoration - not just in the public service but across the economy,” it says.
The IMPACT briefing acknowledges that economists disagree on the size and significance of the pay gap, but says the most balanced and comprehensive study of recent years - by the CSO in 2012 - concluded that, depending on how it’s calculated, it could be as little as minus 1.4% or as much as plus 11.4% once the pension levy is factored in. This research was concluded before additional pay reductions were implemented for some in 2013.
Women
The IMPACT briefing notes that the pay gap for women is much higher than for men, and says this raises particular concerns about the prevalence of low paid and often precarious work for women in the private sector.
In a blog last week, the union warned that the media and others would try to divide public and private sector workers in order to hold back pay restoration. It argued that, to avoid this, unions should argue the case for public service pay restoration in the broader context of recovery for all. It said IMPACT’s strategy for pay restoration does this by highlighting the need for continued action on unemployment, along with pay restoration in the public, private and community sectors.
Over the past fortnight, IMPACT spokespeople have outlined the union’s position on national TV and radio including RTÉ, Today FM, Newstalk, the Irish Times, Irish Independent, Irish Examiner, the Journal, and local radio. The union also had a letter refuting Sunday Independent coverage of the public-private pay gap published in that newspaper last Sunday (24th August).
