Fás staff refuse to give up 70 days’ holiday

MORE than 100 Fás staff members have refused to give up their claim to 70 days-a-year of paid leave in an impasse that threatens to derail the Croke Park deal.

SIPTU has demanded a pay-off for 105 workers in return for giving up generous leave entitlements secured in the 1980s.

The agency — then called Anco — gave workers up to 44 extra days off in their last two years before retirement to help them “acclimatise” to life without work.

This is on top of their normal entitlement to 26 days holidays per year — six more than the average private sector worker.

A hearing is expected in the Labour Court shortly.

Government sources last night warned that a change of attitude was needed, while one backbencher urged the country’s biggest union to “wake up” to the new economic reality.

The Government was unable to comment on the issue because it is before the Labour Court. But one source said: “If the Croke Park Agreement is to be successful, if savings and efficiencies are to be achieved, there needs to be a mindset change.”

The source added: “The obvious talent in the public service needs to be allowed to reach its potential.”

A new board of Fás, put in place last year, found there was no comparable scheme in the public service and immediately ended the arrangement.

SIPTU said the action was taken “unilaterally and without consultation”, and complained to the Labour Relations Commission.

The Labour Court ordered that the leave arrangement be reinstated until a review was carried out of other entitlements across the public sector and agreement reached between the union and management.

Of the 105 staff members entitled to the extra days, 57 are due to retire in the next six months.

Fás is understood to have made two separate offers to staff, including a “buyout” of three extra days holidays over three years. The union rejected the offer.

SIPTU’s Brendan O’Brien said Fás had “scrapped the scheme without any regard or consultation with our members”. He said “it was agreed in different times” but “whether or not it’s a good deal, we have agreed procedures to resolve these matters”. Asked if the entitlement of an extra seven weeks of holidays was justifiable, he said “it was certainly justifiable at the time it was agreed”.

Fine Gael TD Paudie Coffey said SIPTU must “help not hinder” economic recovery and “wake up and realise the country must move forward from the bad practices of the past”.

Labour TD for Louth, Gerald Nash, did not criticise the union but said the controversy highlighted the need for “urgent reform” at Fás.

Fás is due to be replaced by Solas, which will oversee the further education and training sector.