Public sector unions and employers agree proposals for two-year pay deal

The package, if ratified by members, will run until December 31, 2022 from the start of next year. File Picture

Public sector unions and employers have agreed proposals for a new two-year public service pay agreement to succeed the previous deal which had been due to expire at the end of December.

The proposals were outlined early this morning at a meeting of the ICTU public services committee after negotiations at the Workplace Relations Commission concluded in the early hours of the morning.

The package, if ratified by members, will run until December 31, 2022 from the start of next year.

Its main proposals around pay are:

• A general increase worth 1% of gross pay or €500 per year, whichever is greater 
• A second such increase for the same percentage or €500 on October 1 2022 
• A 1% increase in basic salaries through a ‘sectoral bargaining fund’ on February 1 2022 

The agreement, which succeeds the expiring Public Service Stability Agreement (PSSA), acknowledges that issues outstanding from the 2013 Haddington Road agreement remain to be addressed, with commitments made to establish an independent body by March 2021 to aid in the process of returning to pre-Haddington Road hours, and to resolve issues surrounding pay for entrant teachers which would see their opening pay jump two points on the profession’s salary scale.

The negotiations were late to start due to the successive lockdowns resulting from the Covid-19 pandemic leading to a pressurised deadline of December 31 for negotiators on both sides. 

That stressed timeframe had perhaps led to the essentially short-term nature of the agreement.

Chair of the public services committee Kevin Callinan said the outcome was the best that could be achieved in the time allowed.

This agreement builds on recent momentum to improve our public services and the lives of those who depend on and deliver them. 

"The pay terms represent a realistic and acceptable approach to incomes, and they are substantially skewed towards lower earners in a very challenging context of limited resources,” Mr Callinan said.

“The ICTU team has also achieved a process to address sectoral issues, and a separate mechanism that will make real and substantial progress on the issues outstanding from the Haddington Road agreement, including its introduction of longer working hours that fell most heavily on women workers,” he said,” he added.