Public sector unions to meet today as pay strike looms

300,000 public sector workers could strike again on November 11 if pay talks fail

Fórsa's general secretary Kevin Callinan and INMO general secretary Phil Ní Sheaghdha. Picture: Brian Lawless/PA 

Union leaders meet today to assess the state of stalled talks with the Government on public sector pay and vote on whether to recommend that 300,000 State employees should stage another all-out strike within 10 days.

The pay dispute faces a critical moment today when the public services committee of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (Ictu) receives a briefing on the negotiations which broke down at the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) late last Friday after prolonged and intensive discussions.

The committee will also vote on a motion that would see 300,000 public sector workers across the country strike again on November 11.

That could potentially bring schools, hospitals, local authorities, and other public services to a standstill once more.

Public servants, including teachers, nurses, doctors, and civil servants, participated in the previous one-day stoppage on October 14.

Unions' three key demands 

Fórsa general secretary Kevin Callinan, who chairs the Ictu public services committee, said the gap between the two sides remained too wide for unions to recommend an agreement to their members.

The union position centres on three principal demands: 

• Compensation for the gap between pay increases and inflation over the past five years;
• An additional increase for the second half of 2026; 
• Safeguards against further inflationary pressures during the lifetime of any new agreement.

Mr Callinan has warned that the Government has yet to produce what unions would regard as a credible offer.

He has also made clear that any proposals must be capable of securing support in a ballot of union members.

Sources on the union side have said they are disappointed at just how far apart the two sides remain, while in Government circles there is some anxiety about the prospect of a strike which would come just 24 hours before Ireland hosts leaders from across Europe at the European Political Community meeting next Thursday and an informal European Council meeting on Friday.

The WRC on Saturday released a statement in which it said that after 10 days of talks, it “is of the view that certain matters have reached an impasse and is requesting that the Government Appointed Group consider those issues and put forward a means of resolution”.

The group, chaired by Kevin Foley of the WRC, will examine the issues where the negotiations had reached an impasse and propose a way forward. Other outstanding matters will remain with the WRC.

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It is understood that that group will meet today, Monday.

Amid suggestions on Friday that a three-and-a-half-year deal could be on the table to ensure no more talks would have to be held before the November 2029 general election, Government sources said no decision on the length of the deal could be suggested or taken until the pay element was decided.

• Paul Hosford, Deputy Political Editor