The Irish Congress of Trade Unions has cautioned against a "cliff edge" removal of income and liquidity supports introduced during the Covid-19 crisis, and called for a fundamental programme of economic and social reform.
In a document entitled "No Going Back" Congress proposes a new deal to build a fairer society, while boosting economic recovery.
It notes that the pandemic has caused unprecedented disruption around the world, and fundamentally changed the relationship between the state, businesses and workers - but believes that this has created an opportunity to consider policies that would previously have been deemed politically impossible. "Our recovery should occur as a gradual and phased unfreezing, alongside a parallel phasing out