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IRISH CONGRESS of TRADE UNIONS recommends pay claim of 4.7% to 6% in private sector for 2026

THE guidance was issued with the unanimous agreement of the Congress Private Sector Committee.

The recommendation comes as Irish workers face continued pressure from inflation.  Over the past four years, the Consumer Price Index has climbed 18.9%, significantly eroding household purchasing power.

General Secretary of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions, Owen Reidy, said:

“At a time of full employment and a strong economy, it is essential that workers seek to maintain and improve their living standards through collective bargaining.

“The pay guidance published today reflects this position, taking into account the current rate of inflation, gains in productivity, and the Government’s decision to drop tax indexation for workers”

Despite the strong headline economic performance, families across the country continue to feel the stress of the high cost of living.  With CEO [Chief Executive Officer] pay in a range of major Irish companies reported to have increased by 30% last year, we believe workers are entitled to seek pay increases that will allow them to keep pace with basic expenses.

In Budget 2026, the Government abandoned tax indexation for workers, choosing instead to give a no strings attached €700m handout to the hospitality industry.  This left hundreds of thousands of workers worse off.  Unions have no choice but to factor this into pay negotiations for next year.”

In addition to pay guidance, and having regard to the level of profitability and the competitive position of the enterprise concerned, the Committee recommended that Unions should also seek to:

• Improve the position of lower paid workers, including by improving new entrant rates of pay;
• Secure and protect weekly working hours;
• Utilise where appropriate measures such as the Small Benefits Exemption Scheme;
• Introduce and enhance service pay awards;
• Secure additional non-pay benefits, for example shorter working time, additional annual leave, increased sick pay benefits and improved pension benefits.  (16.12.2025)

The full guidance is available: https://www.ictu.ie/publications/ictu-private-sector-pay-guidance2026

IRELAND’S Economic and Social Research Institute

reported on 18th December that measures in the recent Budget 2026will lead to an average 1.3% drop in household disposable incomes.  The ESRI warned that the withdrawal of temporary cost-of-living supports, combined with frozen tax bands, is primarily responsible for the reduction in income”  (RTE: 18.12.2025)

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UK Government Promises 50,000 New Apprenticeships In Employment Push—BBC News.  Some 55,000 six-month placements will be rolled out from next April, 2026, for those who have been on a Benefit for 18 months or more.  The placements will be rolled out in six parts of the UK with high youth unemployment, and will be “fully subsidised” for 25 hours a week, paid at the legal minimum wage.

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WORKERS’ share of the spoils of economic output has not recovered from a sharp drop seen after the Covid-19 pandemic, according to data that points to worsening economic inequalities as the rollout of generative AI gathers pace.  

Estimates by the International Labour Organisation [ILO], published on 9th September 2024, show that the share of global Gross Domestic Product earned by employees and the self-employed fell from 52.9% in 2019 to 52.3% in 2022, and remained flat in the following two years.

The trend marks a sharp acceleration of a long-running decline.  The ILO said Labour’s share of global GDP had fallen 1.6% points since it first began publishing data in 2004—representing a loss of $2.4tn after adjusting for inflation—and that 40% of the drop had taken place since 2019.

Steven Kapsos, head of data production and analysis at the ILO, said the decline was “a strong sign of rising inequality” between workers and the asset-rich and should alert policymakers to the risk of technological change hurting workers.

A fall in labour’s share of GDP is seen as worrying because income from employment tends to be relatively evenly distributed, while capital income, earned by the owners of assets, tends to be concentrated among wealthier people.

IRISH workplace fatalities hit a record low in 2024, with 33 deaths (a 23% drop from 2023), driven by major safety improvements in high-risk agriculture (down 40%) and construction (down 50%), though vehicles and falls from height remain top causes, with older workers (55+) being disproportionately affected.  The fatality rate per 100,000 workers fell to 1.2, the lowest since the founding of the Authority under the  Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 1989.

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IRELAND has been a member of the International Labour Organisation(ILO) since 1923.

The ILO is the United Nations agency which deals with employment and labour market issues and whose mission is to improve standards and conditions of work and to encourage productive employment throughout the world.

Its main achievement has been the creation of an international labour code consisting of Conventions and Recommendations. 

It has a tripartite structure unique in the United Nations, in which employers’ and workers’ representatives have an equal voice with those of governments in shaping its policies and programmes.

Ireland is represented at ILO annual conferences by a tripartite delegation, composed of government officials, nominees of the employers (from the Irish Business and Employers’ Confederation), and of the workers (from the Irish Congress of Trade Unions). 

The Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU) works closely with the International Labour Organisation (ILO), a UN agency, to promote decent work, social justice, and workers’ rights globally and in Ireland, influencing policy via affiliations (ITUC, ETUC), and also campaigning on ILO standards, such as the Violence & Harassment Convention, aiming to integrate ILO principles (Decent Work Agenda, Just Transition) into Irish law and EU initiatives.

The International Labour Office in Geneva, Switzerland, composed of the permanent Secretariat and professional staff, handles day-to-day operations under the supervision of an appointed Director General.  The ILO has international civil servants and technical-assistance experts working in countries throughout the world. 

Among the ILO’s many publications are the International Labour Review and the Year Book of Labour Statistics.

The ILO has 87 state members:  that is to say, 186 of the 193 member-states of the United Nations, plus the Cook Islands, are members of the ILO.   The UN member states which are not members of the ILO are:   Andorra, Bhutan, Liechtenstein, Micronesia, Monaco, Nauru, and North Korea.

Yes, both China and Russia are members of the

International Labour Organisation (ILO), with China being a founding member and holding a permanent seat, while Russia has been a member since 1954—though ILO co-operation with Russia has been suspended since 2022 due to the war in Ukraine, according to Geneva Solutionsand Al Jazeera. 

The International Labour Organisation (ILO) has approximately 3,500 to over 3,600 staff members, with recent figures showing around 3,651 in 2022, along with roughly 3,500 officials managing its global programs, operating from its Geneva headquarters and offices in over 100 countries.