Strike ‘remains available’, unions say as pay talks begin
A strike for this coming Wednesday was suspended as the talks were arranged.
Public sector unions have said “all action remains available” if they do not get a satisfactory resolution in pay negotiations with the Government.
Unions entered into talks with officials from the Department of Public Expenditure at the Workplace Relations Commission in Dublin on Monday – after hundreds of thousands of public sector workers participated in a nationwide strike last Wednesday.
As pickets were staged around the country, impacts included the closure of schools, rescheduling of thousands of non-emergency hospital appointments, and the cancellation of driving tests and most court hearings.
Another strike for this coming Wednesday was suspended as the talks were arranged.
However, Fórsa general secretary Kevin Callinan – who chairs the Irish Congress of Trade Unions’ Public Services Committee – said all industrial action options remain available.
As he arrived for the talks, he said public workers are “really struggling” with the cost of living.
Asked about what concessions unions were prepared to give on productivity, he said: “Any pay negotiation has a cost-of-living element and usually a productivity element – they’re separate things.
“We’re prepared to listen to what they have to say but I think if they’ve heard what members said on the picket line – so many of them said they’ve nothing more to give, that they’re really struggling with the cost of living under huge pressure and work.”
Unions had demanded that pay would be top of the agenda in the talks, with Government saying it would be discussed as a priority.
The public sector workers – including nurses, doctors, teachers and civil servants – launched the national strike after first engaging in work-to-rule action.
Asked if an ongoing work-to-rule action could be suspended as a goodwill gesture during the talks, Mr Callinan said: “Look, we’ve made our gesture: We’ve suspended the strike on Wednesday.
“I think there needs to be an urgency to bring this to a conclusion and obviously, if we if we manage to get there, then we look at everything, all the industrial action.”
He added: “All action remains available to us if we can’t get to a resolution.”
Commentary around the talks has noted that Public Expenditure Minister Jack Chambers suggested the 1.2 billion euro provided for public service pay in the budget is a “starting point”.
Asked about speculation around what the final figure would be, Mr Callinan said: “I think it’s very unhelpful to be talking about figures at this stage in terms of costs and so on and so forth.
“There’s a lot of spinning going on. Only a few weeks ago, they were talking about two billion next year.
“The immediate thing is to deal with this year – not the figures in the Budget – to actually deal with the need for an increase this year.
“The agreement expired at the end of June, and I think that will be the initial focus.”
A spokesperson from the Department of Public Expenditure said: “Following engagement over the weekend, a basis for negotiations under the auspices of the Workplace Relations Commission has now been established.
“Government views this as a constructive step forward which will support efforts to reach a new agreement.
“There is now a genuine opportunity to make progress through constructive engagement and a commitment to dialogue.
“Government looks forward to the intensive discussions getting under way today.”