Public sector reform - Ignoring our reality

DURING recent union conferences there were worrying signs that the magnitude of our crisis had not yet dawned on some public sector workers.

A Garda conference heard a motion calling for six extra days’ holiday to compensate for pay cuts. The CPSU conference heard a motion asking for the restoration of time once allowed to cash pay cheques “so workers could go home early”.

That madness continues today when the Association of Higher Civil and Public Servants will hear a motion suggesting that senior civil servants over 50 might be allowed go on a trial retirement for a year and return to work if they found their new situation unpalatable.