14/07/2026
The CWU at Biennial Delegate Conference passed an emergency motion that called on the Union to campaign alongside ICTU and affiliated unions for legislative and industrial advances that strengthen workers’ collective rights, improve living standards and deliver secure, quality employment.
Subsequently, ICTU and affiliates are calling for Budget 2027 to be a “workers' budget”, that includes:
🔸Double indexation of the income tax system in Budget 2027 to compensate workers the absence of a tax package for PAYE workers in Budget 2026.
🔸 A €1 increase in the National Minimum Wage from January 2027 to deliver the promised Living Wage for low paid workers.
🔸 Reductions in the cost of using essential public services, including reducing the cost of significant progress on delivering the promised €200 a month childcare.
🔸 An end to the payment cap freeze on pay-related jobseeker’s benefit and a timeline for introducing the promised pay-related parent’s benefit.
🔸 A second tier of child benefit for low-income families, in and out of work.
🔸Increased investment in public transport and green energy infrastructure, including targeted supports during winter where necessary.
The CWU has also reaffirmed that collective bargaining and worker solidarity are essential to achieving fair pay, decent work and social justice.
Commenting on the pre-Budget submission, Congress General Secretary Owen Reidy said:
"In recent years, time and again the Government has chosen costly short-term giveaways for those who shout the loudest. Workers have seen billions go towards VAT cuts and tax breaks that do little for them and little to secure their future, all while their pay packets have to stretch further and further. If the Government is serious about workers' living standards, and about the long-term health of the public finances, it has to end the gimmicks and give-aways, and invest in the workers that make this country run."
