Ireland's unions and business lobbies on Tuesday will begin the tortuous task of cobbling together a national pay deal, four months after a wave of protests gripped the country amid fears that an influx of inexpensive labor from Eastern Europe would jeopardize jobs for Irish workers. The discussions are aimed at undercutting an erosion in wages that unions say may occur as more low-priced workers enter Ireland.
See "Irish unions wage fight over low-cost migrants", Brian Lavery, International Herald Tribune, May 1, 2006