CTU Media Release

11 March 2009

“9-day fortnight” welcomed

The CTU welcomed the Government’s announcement today of some of the details of the “9-day fortnight”including that it would fund workers’ pay for the 10th day to the tune of five hours per fortnight at the minimum wage.

‘This package and the amount available do provide a real basis for business and unions to work to save jobs,’said CTU President Helen Kelly. ‘We are very pleased to see the practical discussions at the Employment Summit turn into real policy so quickly, since time is of the essence in dealing with growing threats to employment.’

Kelly said it provided a basis for workers and employers to negotiate deals which would prevent permanent job losses. ‘We will always advocate that the package could have included a higher rate of pay. But the government contribution was essential to make this idea acceptable to workers,’ she said. ‘The strong message we are getting from workers is that they want to protect employment. While this package won’t work in every workplace, it will be a very useful tool for many in discussions about managing the downturn.’

‘The whole basis of this suggestion was to see Government, employers and workers come together to find a solution to the threat of redundancy,’ continued Kelly. ‘It is now up to unions and employers to negotiate deals where the 9-day fortnight is a practical way out of temporary financial difficulty. We expect responsible employers, who will also benefit from this scheme in terms of retained staff, and reduced costs associated with redundancy, to also make a contribution to the lost wages, since clearly there are benefits for businesses that do this.’

‘Low paid workers have the most to lose from any reduction in paid time and the Government’s contribution will be of greatest benefit to those already on or near the minimum wage. These workers are also least likely to be able to afford wage reductions, but that is for employer and union parties to negotiate over.’

ENDS

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