Passport Office faces total strike if crucial talks fail

THE Passport Office faces a full-out strike if there is a failure in crunch talks between the Government and trade unions which get underway today.

Lower-paid civil servants have voted unanimously to escalate industrial action if the national level talks on pay and reforms do not result in a reversal of their recent wage cuts.

At the annual conference of the Civil Public and Services Union (CPSU) in Galway yesterday, delegates backed an emergency motion allowing for a full strike at the passport office.

CPSU general secretary Blair Horan said the “debacle and chaos” at the Passport Office in recent days was due to management and Government mishandling of the public sector industrial action. He apologised for the effects on the public of the dispute, adding; “We take no pleasure in this industrial action, but we do it out of necessity to protect our already low living standards.”.

Delegates gave a standing ovation to their colleagues in the Passport Office and Ciarán Hodge of the Passport Office branch said while he understood why the public was upset he had taken two pay cuts on an already low salary and he was entitled to be upset too.

Delegates at the conference strongly criticised the Government for implementing pay cuts on low-paid staff and hit out at the media for what they claimed was unfair coverage of labour disputes.

At one stage a Sligo delegate threw shredded tissue paper at members of the media telling them to continue blocking their ears to the reality of the low-paid civil servants.

Later a motion was passed to investigate taking legal action against the Department of Finance for breach of contract arising from members pay cuts.

The union also voted to oppose temporary staff to be sourced beyond the civil service pool. The motion said some management had discussed using people on Fás back to work schemes to fill vacancies in peak season.

Union leaders will negotiate through the weekend with Government representatives at talks in Dublin being held under the guidance of Labour Relations Commission chief executive Kieran Mulvey.