Speaking ahead of International Workers’ Day (May Day – Friday 1 May), Unite’s Irish secretary Susan Fitzgerald warned both public and private sector employers that workers will not tolerate being shortchanged and said that Unite members across Ireland are determined to defend their living standards in the face of the latest cost-of-living crisis.

“Workers have been buffeted by a series of crises not of their making, from Covid to successive cost-of-living crises.  They have watched as the government caved in to sectional interests, from hospitality to haulage, while putting workers’ demands on the long finger – from a real living wage to the extension of sick pay.

“A prolonged energy crisis triggered by the US attack on Iran will see inflation continue to climb when workers are already struggling, with a recent survey showing that a third of Unite members in the public sector have been forced to borrow just to make ends meet.

“Workers can do the math, and they know that any pay increase that does not keep pace with inflation is a pay cut.

“We are putting employers on notice: Any attempts to shortchange workers will not be tolerated.  Our members are determined to secure inflation-busting pay increases – at the negotiating table where possible, and on the picket line where necessary.”