State parties urged to reopen negotiations on pay deal

The Government has been urged to reopen talks with trade unions after workers rejected the extension of the Croke Park deal agreement.

Labour’s Oireachtas members are expected to raise the collapsed deal at the party’s parliamentary meeting today.

The Government has already said any rejection of the deal would force it to legislate for an across-the-board 7% cut in pay for workers.

Opposition TDs have called for negotiations on the €1bn savings needed by 2015 to be reopened with trade unions.

Sinn Féin’s deputy leader and public expenditure spokeswoman Mary Lou McDonald said: “This represents a body blow to Government. It’s about workers standing up against the Government’s austerity agenda.”

Sinn Féin says €300m per annum can be saved by reducing pay levels for the top 6,000 public sector workers.

Workers had not rolled over to Public Expenditure Minister Brendan Howlin’s demands and “bullying” tactics, said Ms McDonald.

She urged the Government to target higher-ranking public servants for savings, such as secretaries general, the pay of ministers, special advisers, and pensions of former politicians.

Fianna Fáil’s Sean Fleming said Siptu’s rejection of the deal represented an “indictment” of the Government’s handling of the Croke Park extension.

Some workers’ representative bodies had been forced out of negotiations at early stages, said Mr Fleming.

He urged Mr Howlin to outline how €300m in needed savings this year could now be achieved.

People before Profit TD Richard Boyd Barrett said the no vote represented “an earthquake within the Labour movement”.

“The Labour Party should now resign from the government; the very organisations that fund the Labour Party have rejected the policies that a Labour minister designed.”

Rebel Labour TD Patrick Nulty said the no vote could not be ignored by the Government, while Independent TD Stephen Donnelly called for more talks to find alternative savings.

A grassroots organisation of Labour Party members urged Labour TDs to rule out backing legislation to force pay cuts on workers.

The Campaign for Labour Policies said these threats needed to be taken off the table and that alternative policies were needed, such as a proposal for a wealth tax and a real plan for job creation.

The rejection of the deal to cut public sector pay comes ahead of a Labour parliamentary party meeting today, the first also since its bruising defeat in last month’s Meath East by-election.

Any move to force through pay cuts for workers would put huge pressure on Labour TDs, who traditionally receive huge support from unions and workers.

With the threat of industrial action hanging over any forced pay cuts, a Government spokeswoman said that the rejection of the deal would be discussed at the next Cabinet meeting next week.