Unions threaten strike if deal on public service wage structure not in place by end of year

Talks have been underway between the unions and the Department of Public Expenditure at the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) since late November. File picture: Colin Keegan, Collins Dublin

Public sector unions say they will draw up ballots for industrial action in January if the Government fails to reach an agreement for a new public service wage structure by the end of the year.

Talks have been underway between the unions and the Department of Public Expenditure at the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) since late November. However, in recent days union figures had become frustrated at the slow pace of the negotiations.

Affiliates from the public services committee of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions met on Wednesday to decide a position after talks stalled on Tuesday evening, just days before the current Building Momentum pay deal is due to expire.

Forsa general secretary Kevin Callinan said the WRC had decided that an agreement could not be reached as the talks currently stand.

"It's now unlikely talks will resume before Christmas, although we did express our willingness to meet over the next few days in order to conclude a deal,” Mr Callinan said. "However, it remained clear last night that the Government can't or won't conclude a deal in that time, and has indicated it would prefer to resume negotiations in the new year.” 

Mr Callinan said that while there had been no discussion of pay at the talks thus far he believes that had there been a “genuine push” this week, it would have been possible to “close out” other issues and move onto the pay segment.

He described the lack of progress as “very disappointing” and indicative of “a tangible lack of enthusiasm” on the Government’s part to agree a new deal.

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Union leaders said that while they remain open to further talks with the department between Christmas Day and the new year, ahead of the expiration of the current deal, they do not expect further negotiation to take place before January.

The Department of Public Expenditure has been contacted for comment.

Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) general secretary Phil Ni Sheaghdha said that in the absence of a new deal, it is now incumbent on unions to ramp up their campaign for cost-of-living wage increases.

“We are facing an unprecedented situation where there will be no public service pay agreement on January 1, so our unions will be organising their response,” she said.

The first step will be to arrange ballots for all the affiliate unions. If members can't vote on a pay deal in January, they will instead need to vote for a course of appropriate action.

There have been 11 meetings thus far in this current session of pay talks. Early indicators had appeared favourable to the union side, with the Government expressing a guarded willingness towards unwinding the last of the remaining austerity measures applied to public service wage packets in the wake of the recession seen in the late 2000s.

However, little progress has been made in negotiations since, leading to vocally expressed frustration from the unions.