When a headline tells us so little… wage cuts and freezes in the private sector. January 10, 2012
Posted by WorldbyStorm in Irish Politics.trackback
Here’s the headline from the Irish Times:
Almost 75% of companies planning to freeze or cut pay, says Ibec survey
And here’s the detail:
It found that 76 per cent of respondent companies had implemented a pay-freeze in 2011, and 74 per cent would “either freeze or reduce basic pay rates in 2012”.
Some 69 per cent intended freezing pay and 5 per cent cutting pay, by a median of 9 per cent.
In other words companies plan to keep wages at the same or increase them for 95 per cent of workers in 2012.
It’s quite a different take isn’t it, and yet it is entirely consistent with the facts. Only 5 per cent of companies intend to cut wages.
Now none of this is to address the issue as to whether the survey is scientific, given that it is limited to a select group, ie IBEC companies.
Or to consider that IBECs statement drawn from the report as follows that: ‘“Pay rises in 2012 are unrealistic,” is demonstrably incorrect. 25 per cent of companies, 1 in 4, intend to increase wages for workers.
Compare and contrast. 1 in 20 companies will cut wages, 1 in 4 increase them and 2 in 3 will maintain them at present levels.
So what is the problem with this? The fact that cuts are elided with freezes by the Irish Times in a way that completely tilts the conclusions one can draw from the actual data. But it’s all part of an ambient noise which ignores both the nuances and in this instance the obvious glaring inaccuracies in the picture presented of economic activity.
Of course as is usual very little tangible or real data (e.g data that is physically and numerically verifiable is ever provided by IBEC, the fact that the IT takes them at their word speaks volumes for the agenda they pursue. In 2009 I myself completed a research thesis (journal summary of thesis available here http://www3.ul.ie/sociology/socheolas/vol3/1/Ger%20Murphy.pdf ) which looked at how the Irish Independent portrayed public sector workers in the run up to the budget of 2009. At that time there was constant reports in the media of huge wage cuts in the private sector, in many cases figures like cuts of 40% and more were plucked out of the air , to bolster arguments been made to cut the pay of public sector workers. As is stated before very little data was provided to back up these claims, in fact evidence to the contrary showed that “doubts are also now been expressed about the authenticity of the claims of ‘the suffering private sector’ , particularly in relation to the claims of ‘huge pay cuts’. Evidence is now indicating that pay cuts (if any) were confined to those in lower paid employments, particularly in the construction sector and that wage reductions were non existent in the upper echelons of the private sector and among professionals. The chairman of the Higher Public Servants Remuneration Committee Tony O’ Brien said the committee’s examination indicated the cuts in private sector pay had been overstated in the media. “The cuts weren’t anything like the folklore would suggest, while in the public service they were very significant.” (Irish Times 06/08/2010). In addition the research pointed out that the Irish Independent (and probably other media too) overwhelmingly relied on Government, and employers (IBEC and ISME) sources when reporting on pay issues “.Analysis of the sources used by the Irish Independent indicate that apart from government sources, there was extensive use of sources from the employer organisations such as ISME and IBEC. In comparison only thirty two per cent of quoted sources came from trade union or worker supportive groups. In addition over half of the trade union sources when used were talking in the context of forecasted industrial action and only two of the eleven ‘expert opinion’ articles originated in the ‘anti-cuts’ sector. In essence very little coverage was given to alternative advice or plans that opposed the government policy. Indeed it would be fair to argue that the entire debate was conducted within the ‘There Is No Alternative’ framework, a viewpoint that concurred with the stated opinion of the major employer groups”. There is plenty of opinion that would support the notion that our media is hell bent on preserving the “staus quo” in Ireland, indeed one would do well to reflect on this comment by Greg Philo of GUMG titled ‘More News, Less Views’ rejected by the Guardian on the grounds that “it would be read as a piece of old lefty whingeing about bias” reflected on how the reporting of news had become the reporting of ‘someone’s’ opinion of the news. He comments that news is a procession of the powerful, characterized by the orthodoxy of views and the lack of critical voices, as example shows “when the credit crunch hit, we were given a succession of bankers, stockbrokers and even hedge-fund managers to explain and say what should be done, but these were the people who had caused the problem” (Philo 2008). Likewise how many people who were up to their neck in supporting and cheerleading the celtic tiger are now telling us how the “pain ” should be shared! The voices of the powerful still reign supreme in Irish media!
Many thanks Gerard for that. It’s really appreciated. I’d echo Ivorthornes thoughts about sharing the research with a wider audience.
Thanks for research Gerard. I’m a public sector worker (low paid) and I hold a degree in History and Media from the same university. What shocked me the most was the media’s utter rejection of empericism and reliance on cliche and soundbites. Two words kept resonating through my head: “manufacturing consent.” Despite my research into the past, one can never fully feel or understand the experience of dehumanisation unless one is immersed in it and we certainly felt its full force, particularly in 2009. I know you seem to be focused on the print media but I distinctly recall one prominent RTE journalist literally screaming at Blair Horan of the CPSU “What planet are you living on?” We were aliens, not living in “reality”, “lethargic”, inflexible etc. It seems that standards have declined significantly among the media establishment. The conditions created by government, business and the media to allow people to give vent their frustration which manifested into abuse and degradation of their fellow citizens. In the eyes of many we are subhuman. It will become renowned as shameful episode of our past. Keep up the good work.
In our small company, We have had no pay increase since 2009 and they cancelled their pension contribution as well.I don’t re-call basic food prices falling,Transport Costs Falling, Doctor’s fees falling.I hate when anyone from Ibec comes on the News/Radio pontificating.
I think that’s definitely the experience for many.
A friend of mine was working for a crowd who cut wages on foot of IBEC like mood music, ie ‘its the recession’ even though they were making profits according to their a/cs. He eventually was made redundant and went to a competitor who had tried a similar trick with their workforce and were told where to stuff it. So no cuts, but still on freeze.
And there’s another issue too, albeit anecdotal, I know a number of people subcontracted to the Public Sector who have lost up to 2/3rds of their income because the spend has collapsed. That too is the out workings of austerity.
Hi Gerard, any idea how you can share that research with a wider audience? I don’t think anybody here is shocked by it, but it’s great to see figures.
Hi, the link I provided is to Socheolas, the Student Sociology Journal at UL, http://www3.ul.ie/sociology/index.php?pagid=59&useid=rkv6231662 there are also many fine articles there on a variety of current/topical issues and well worth a look!, my own article is a summary of my research thesis and is available here http://www3.ul.ie/sociology/socheolas/vol3/1/Ger%20Murphy.pdf , the actual research thesis is fairly long piece of work, and I do have it on file. I have a blog here http://gfmurphy101.wordpress.com/ where I have posted some of my (crazy!) thoughts on the media, capitalism etc and I might try to upload the full transcript of the thesis there, failing that contact me on twitter by dm and I can try to send it via email?. I intend revisiting the thesis my self and updating it in a different format or perhaps penning another journal article on it ( there are some other issues that have come to light since my original publication, and I believe that they should be in the public domain. As you can see all of the stuff I have on line is in the public domain and can be used by others, I believe the same goes for the sociology journal!, I have no problem with others posting the articles elsewhere
That’s absolutely brilliant Gerard. Much obliged.
[...] Gerard Murphy | Framing Propaganda: Print Media Coverage of Irish Public Service Workers [...]
Rally in support of Vita Cortex workers to take place outside Dáil this Thursday at 1pm.
It can’t be said too often: nothing is more private sector than the Irish press. Job insecurity: check. Crap pensions: check. Neutered unions: check. Powerful, bullying proprietors: check. Reliance on business advertising: check.
Yet some people persist in expecting neutrality or at least fairness in coverage of the public/private dichotomy. Even more tellingly, the papers themselves are full of commentators who are unaware of the beam in their eye and probably consider themselves objective. ‘The reality is…..’
+1
I’ve a relative who is a journalist, and to say that it’s a precarious existence is to put it mildly. But that’s the problem. It’s essentially unlike 80-90 per cent of private sector jobs. And I agree entirely, you just get the sense that there’s this massive projection on the part of those who are stuck in the media, as is true of most of us I guess in fairness, where their world is mapped onto the rest of people. The thing is that ten or fifteen years ago, or five to be honest, they’d never in a month of sundays considered the public sector for a career.
WBS, you are spot on regarding projection. When advertising went through ther floor in 2007/8, media workers were among the first in the private sector to get pinched. Wage cuts of 10-15% (and more later) were imposed and the belief that this was common across all levels of the private sector became easily embedded among a trible of people who tend to socialise among themselves, and those that they interact with outside the tribe are, in fact, close cousins and usually former colleagues.
In other words, if you are a hack and your income has been cut, as has your hack spouse and hack friends, while being reassured by PR slicksters that we are all feeling the pain, stoically in our green jerseys, apart from those bastards in the public sector, who are, as you know from personal experience, senior mandarins, consultants, economists, spin doctors, then you will have a take on the crash and its causes.
The deeper problem is actually one of class relations. The old image of the smokin’ & boozin’ hack who worked his way from copy boy at 15 to the news desk is long gone.
Most hacks these days are the children of hacks, alumni of private or ‘the ‘better’ schools, all are graduates (usually in Media and Journalism), all got in the trade by months or years of interning for free, or extremely precarious freelancing.
All are over-worked (ergo ‘churnalism’) and even quite senior hacks are very badly paid – ergo the attraction of PR (Guilty as charged).
I know he is not the most popular guy in this village, but David Begg pointed out this at the time, and the sad thing is that the very people who are supposed to speak truth to power are so easily befuddled by corporate bullshit and their own version of the politics of envy.
That is the added tragedy of the death of Mary Raftery. I can think of very few younger hacks who would dare to do what she did. More depressingly, very few would even dream of doing so.
The compromised Danish TV news presenter in BBC4′s Borgen has, on her wall, the poster for ‘All the President’s Men”. That inspired me and thousands of others a generation or two ago. Who are the modern ‘WoodSteins’? Brendan O’Connor? David McWilliams? Seoige?
I think there is also a question to be asked about how the two sides try to use the media.
I just looked at IBEC’s web site, and it contains 13 press statements since 12 December; ICTU has three since that date. (My current union has had zero, and the last union I was in has one announcement concerning an internal election. On the other hand, SIPTU does have things to say, albeit most of the news items are about disputes — Vita Cortex, Lagan Brick and Castlebar hospital.)
At work, I see emails to our “info” account containing a survey from ISME and know that five or six weeks later there will be a press statement from them announcing that a survey of their members showed that [small businesses can't afford to pay staff any increases | taxes on small businesses are too high | bureaucracy is hurting business | ...]
This brilliant little letter in yesterday’s ‘Irish Times’ should be acknowledged:
Sir, – Ibec’s framing of their pay survey – repeated in your headline and story (Home News, January 9th) – is thoroughly misleading. True, the survey finds “almost 75 per cent of companies planning to freeze or cut pay”. An equally true and less misleading summary is that: over 90 per cent of companies are planning to maintain or raise pay, because the bulk of firms are planning to make no change at all. In fact, Ibec found that many more firms are planning to increase pay than plan to cut it, but somehow that got less prominence. – Yours, etc,
PATRICK KINSELLA,
School of Communications,
Dublin City University,
Glasnevin, Dublin 9.