Government makes ‘substantially improved’ pay offer to public sector unions
Public sector workers were still being advised by union leadership to prepare for strike action on Thursday.
The Government has made a “substantially improved” pay offer to public sector unions, the Taoiseach said.
But public sector workers are still being advised by union leadership to prepare for strike action, with the engagement with Government being described as “very difficult”.
Crunch talks involving public sector unions, Government and an appointed mediator adjourned on Sunday without an agreement, with the process to reconvene on Monday.
The negotiations have entered a key period, with a nationwide public sector strike looming for Thursday – coinciding with the key event of Ireland’s presidency of the Council of the European Union.
Around 50 heads of state will be in Dublin for the European Political Community (EPC) summit on Thursday, which will see the largest security operation in the history of the country.
Speaking in Enniskillen, Taoiseach Micheál Martin said Government had made a “substantially improved offer” as talks moved into a “more intensive phase over the weekend”.
He said: “The nature of that is to, in our view, make an agreement very possible but obviously that’s a matter that others have to consider.”
Mr Martin said Government was “very keen” to have a national pay agreement with priority for the lower paid.
He said Government also acknowledged the impact of inflation and the impact of the cost of living.
But the current offer is still being met with some pessimism on the union side, with officials describing negotiations to date as “very difficult”.
In a message to Fórsa members, general secretary Kevin Callinan said: “Since Tuesday, the officers of the Ictu Public Services Committee have participated in intensive discussions under a process overseen by the Government Appointed Group.
“Talks continued yesterday and again this morning.
“They are now adjourned until tomorrow. Needless to say, it is very difficult.”
He said: “Preparations are well under way for a 24-hour work stoppage on Thursday November 12 and rallies to mark the strike action and bring members together.
“I encourage you to make plans to attend a rally with your colleagues.”
At the Fine Gael Ard Fheis in Cork, Tánaiste and Finance Minister Simon Harris said he did not believe the strike was inevitable as he called for de-escalation and for sides to find solutions.
“The Government has made a new and significantly improved offer. I think from the perspective of public service workers, I would ask now that, against that backdrop and that context, that the work is now towards resolution and de-escalation.”
Mr Harris said the mandate for strike action arose when there was no offer.
He said: “We’re in a vastly different place now, where the Government is offering to increase the pay of public service workers, is offering to do that pretty imminently, and has made a revised offer that is significantly improved.
“I think those three things are quite a different vista to when the ballot for industrial action was taken.”
Hundreds of thousands of public sector workers participated in a nationwide walkout in October, which saw impacts including the closure of schools, the rescheduling of thousands of non-emergency hospital appointments, and the cancellation of driving tests and most court hearings.
A second strike was called off for the pay talks but has been brought back to the table for the EPC.
A rank-and-file Garda work-to-rule action is also planned in the days around the event in a dispute over working conditions.
This action will also cover the informal EU Council meeting on Friday.