Public servants warn union leaders over concessions

By Stephen Rogers

Thursday, November 26, 2009

GARDAÍ, nurses and other frontline public servants have warned trade union leaders that they must give no concessions on allowances, overtime and other premium payments in the latest round of pay talks with the Government.

Intensive talks between public sector union leaders and the Department of Finance over the next four days will attempt to reach agreement on, firstly, a template for the downsizing of the public sector, and, secondly and more immediately, how the public sector pay bill can be reduced by €1.3bn in 2010.

On Tuesday, public sector leaders appeared to concede that a reduction in the pay bill was necessary next year but that raised concerns among members of the 24/7 Frontline Alliance of trade unions.

A joint statement issued by the Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors (AGSI) and the Garda Representative Association said the Government had unilaterally reduced the pay of gardaí and used legislation to deny them any recourse to a fair hearing.

"We have a commitment from the president of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions Jack O’Connor and general secretary David Begg that core pay, in so far as the gardaí and other frontline workers are concerned, includes the allowances which repay us for the 24/7/365 services we provide," said AGSI general secretary Joe Dirwan. "One is inseparable from the other and this must be taken into account in any final agreement."

Liam Doran of the Irish Nurses’ Organisation made a similar call on Peter McLoone, chairman of the public sector committee of ICTU.

"Peter McLoone went on record on November 10 stating that Congress intended to protect all pay, which he defined as ‘everything they receive’, in the talks," he said. "This means that allowances, overtime and other premium payments will have to be taken into account when negotiating with the Government."

Meanwhile, going into the talks yesterday afternoon, Mr McLoone said the Government needed to provide more concrete figures for the future of the public service than what was in its briefing document given to unions last Friday.

That blueprint for the size and shape of the public service up to 2014 made no reference to how many posts will need to be removed or answer the question of how much workers in the sector have contributed to Exchequer savings through the pension levy and moratorium.

"That information will be needed to build a document that meets our requirements," said Mr McLoone.

"We certainly expect to get within the next 24 hours the detail which we need on both those questions."

This story appeared in the printed version of the Irish Examiner Thursday, November 26, 2009