Union to re-ballot on Croke Park deal

THE Civil, Public and Services Union (CPSU) is to re-ballot its 13,000 members on the terms of the Croke Park deal and said it is ending the action it has been holding in a number of Government departments.

However, the Teachers’ Union of Ireland (TUI) is likely to keep directives in schools and colleges in place for now and is likely to ballot its 15,000 members on its next move, having also rejected the deal accepted by the wider public service union movement last week.

The CPSU, representing lower paid civil servants, rejected the deal by a two-to-one majority – the same margin as the overall vote of unions in favour.

CPSU general secretary Blair Horan said the second ballot would not happen until after the summer and the union executive will hold a series of meetings with members before deciding if it will recommend acceptance or rejection.

Mr Horan said a fair amount of preparation work remains to be completed on the transformation agenda contained in the deal so the ballot should have no impact on its implementation. “The reality is that the majority of the unions have accepted the deal and so we are now in a different position with an agreement in place.”

The union’s campaign of industrial action against pay cuts began in January and resulted in the well-publicised disruption in passport offices.

The TUI executive yesterday reaffirmed the three-to-one opposition of its members to the deal, by deciding it will not endorse the deal. Incoming president, Bernie Ruane, said the leadership is precluded by a motion at its annual congress from entering talks arising from the deal without a full ballot, but members could not be asked to vote until schools and colleges reopen in the autumn.