Unions warn of industrial action if Government imposes pay cuts

Trade unions warned today that there will be industrial action if the Government imposes further public-sector pay cuts.

Members of the Public Services Committee of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions have called for time and space to work out a solution following the rejection of the latest Croke Park agreement.

They are meeting today to formally ballot on the deal but there is no chance of its survival after SIPTU and the INTO rejected it yesterday.

Secretary of the ICTU public services committee Tom Geraghty said any attempt by the Government to implement pay-cuts will be met with industrial action.

"Well I don't think that there's any doubt that if the Government moves to unilaterally cut the pay of public servants that there will be a campaign of industrial action," he said.

"I don’t think that there's any dispute about that."

Speaking on the way into the meeting, Patricia King of SIPTU and Unite's Jimmy Kelly warned that workers will resist any attempts to enforce pay cuts on their members.

"The outcome is that the membership have rejected the proposals and the same as any other normal industrial relations process, we expect that the employers won't impose it - and if they do I expect that it'll be strongly resisted," King said.

"We're now clearly saying to the Government that we'll resist any attempt to impose Croke Park 2, and we're going to look at what the alternatives are to inflicting that sort of misery on public sector workers."

New efforts to break the deadlock created by widespread rejection of the deal are expected within two weeks.

A number of key union figures have now warned that the Government will have to face down strikes if it wants to impose pay cuts without negotiation.

Jimmy Kelly, of the Unite trade union, said the message for the coalition was clear.

“We’re now clearly saying to the Government that we’ll resist any attempt to impose Croke Park II, and we’re going to look at what the alternatives are to inflicting that sort of misery on public sector workers,” he said.

The public sector committee of Congress is to write to Government notifying that it stands over the resounding No vote on Croke Park II.

Bernard Harbor, spokesman for the committee and trade union Impact, one of the few unions to support the deal, suggested that Department of Public Expenditure negotiators could look at sweeteners to get consensus.

“I think in the immediate term the ball is in the Government’s court. They have to decide how to respond and what to do, whether they are going to try to reach some kind of agreement again or move to impose pay cuts – try to do something to turn rejection into acceptance,” he said.

The Congress committee did not discuss the likelihood of strike action, Mr Harbor said.

Separately, the executive council of Congress issued a statement warning the Government against introducing legislation to force through pay cuts.

“What has come out of it is that we fully endorse the vote that was taken and fully endorse that we will reject and resist any attempt to unilaterally impose pay cuts as has been suggested,” a spokesman said.

But one union source close to the public services committee said: “It’s a mess to be honest. And politically for both parties it would be difficult to force through pay cuts – but it would be disastrous for Labour.

“Not making the €1bn of savings is a much bigger problem for the Government than upsetting the public sector and facing a strike.”

Earlier, both the Taoiseach and Tánaiste dismissed any suggestion that the coalition has been damaged by the shock rejection of Croke Park II.

Mr Kenny

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“The bottom line here is absolutely clear – we have to, we must and we will find 300m of extra savings this year from payroll,” the Taoiseach said.

“That’s the challenge the Government now faces and we will obviously now reflect on this.”

The Tánaiste said: “I think we need now to consider the consequences of the decision. The ballot does not change the reality that €300m in payroll savings are required this year and €1bn up to 2015.”

Croke Park II foundered after SIPTU members rejected the advice of the trade union’s own executive and voted against it, while there was also no support from teachers, nurses, doctors and members of unions representing the highest or lowest paid civil servants.

Mr Gilmore refused to be drawn on whether his party and Cabinet colleague, Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform Brendan Howlin, would follow through with threats to impose a flat 7% pay cut across the public sector.

“Pay agreements have been put on the table before and have been rejected before. There’s nothing particularly exceptional with that,” he said.

Sinn Féin deputy leader Mary Lou McDonald said the Government should be looking at a third rate of tax, a wealth tax and cutting high pay at the top of the civil service to make savings.

“They did so because it was an unfair deal – bad for public sector workers and their families, bad for the public services on which we all depend and bad for the domestic economy.

“The idea that you could take one billion euro out of the public service and not hurt the schools that educate our children or the hospitals that care for our sick family members was always absurd.

“Equally absurd is Minister Howlin’s claim that he is going to run out of money before the end of the year.”