Union: One in two fear effects of cutbacks

More than half of all people fear they will be hit by cuts in the public services, it was claimed today.

Trade union IMPACT said a new survey revealed the public want reforms without further cuts in pay or vital services.

General secretary Peter McLoone said public servants have been unfairly blamed for an economic and budgetary crisis that they did not create.

“Despite a massive attack on public servants and their pay – from politicians, economists, business organisations and most of the media – public opinion is evenly split on the question of public service pay,” said Mr McLoone.

“This clearly suggests that politicians are mistaken if they believe they can win votes easily by pillorying and punishing the people who deliver public services.

IMPACT, which has 65,000 members, said a third of public service workers earn less than €40,000 a year while all have suffered an average 7.5% pay cut this year.

Thousands of jobs have been lost and many more are under threat, it warned.

The union launched a €450,000 advertising campaign aimed at defending public services and the people who use and provide them.

Under the slogan – Public Services: Transformation Not Cuts – IMPACT aims to get its message across by taking out full-page newspaper ads, a massive billboard advertising campaign, and dropping leaflets to one million households nationwide.

It maintains new measures include identifying and cutting waste, changes in work practices, and vastly increased productivity and mobility to ensure that services are maintained as resources decline and staff numbers fall.

“The IMPACT campaign aims to increase support for the people who deliver public services by demonstrating that public servants and their unions understand that times have changed, and they are demonstrating a willingness and ability to find and implement constructive solutions to preserve the services that people need and value,” continued Mr McLoone.

Elsewhere it’s Red C poll found 58% of the public believed spending cuts were necessary to reform public services, but over half disagreed that public servants should suffer further pay cuts.

It also revealed almost half of all respondents have already been hit by cuts in health and education services.

Mr McLoone said the survey strongly suggests that while recognising the need for savings, a large number of people want an alternative approach to cuts in pay and services.

“IMPACT is putting forward that alternative, which can deliver substantial savings in public spending without damaging cuts to vital services – and without the imposition of a second public service pay cut,” he said.