THE UNION representing lower-paid civil servants has forecast pre-emptive strikes and industrial action in advance of the budget in protest at possible reductions in pay.
The news comes ahead of talks between the Government and the social partners on Tuesday.
In an internal bulletin to members yesterday, general secretary of the Civil Public and Services Union (CPSU) Blair Horan said it was becoming increasingly clear that an agenda of further pay cuts was being planned.
He said that while the comments of Minister for Finance Brian Lenihan at the Dublin Chamber of Commerce dinner on Thursday evening related to pay cuts for top earners, there were strong indications that cuts across the board were on the cards.
“While there is a good argument that tax increases to replace the deficit due to the downturn , would be counterproductive, it is an entirely different matter for the tax deficit due to the disappearance of property-related taxes .
“The appropriate response is borrowing to cover the first, and phased tax increases to cover the second,” he said.
Mr Horan said it appeared that again public servants were to be the scapegoats. “The Central Bank and ESRI statements on pay cuts are part of a deliberate campaign to engineer deflation in this economy.
“The same institutions responsible for the greatest economic failure in the history of this State are now trying to make workers foot the bill. No talk of the contribution that those still with substantial assets from the boom are going to make,” he said.
Mr Horan said he anticipated that industrial action, including strike action, would take place in the public sector over the next number of weeks as no progress had been made with the Department of Finance on their pay cuts agenda. “In April the Minister set out expenditure cuts and tax increases for 2010. Now it’s just expenditure cuts and pay cuts . . . The people who severely damaged this economy have no moral authority to impose cuts on workers,” he said.
Talks between Government and the social partners on an agreed economic recovery deal will recommence on Tuesday. However, the process is expected to be dominated by the Government’s plans for public sector pay.
Some sources said that while the talks would address the Irish Congress of Trade Unions’ proposals for a fairer way of dealing with the economic situation, they could also look at the issue of whether the Government’s payroll costs could be reduced without reducing pay for staff.