THE STATE’S largest public sector union, Impact, has said that it will take strike action if the Government introduces pay cuts for workers on the State payroll.
In a statement yesterday, Impact said it had begun a national strike ballot of 55,000 public servants in the Civil Service, the health service, the education sector, local authorities and in non-commercial semi-State bodies.
The union said it would use a strike mandate if public service employers imposed compulsory redundancies, unilateral cuts in working hours, further pay cuts or reductions in pension entitlements.
Impact general secretary Peter McLoone said public servants were now “absolutely convinced” of the threat of a further pay cut, particularly since the Taoiseach had twice admitted that this was being considered as part of the forthcoming budget.
Over recent weeks, some Government sources have indicated that pay cuts of 5 per cent for most public sector workers and deeper reductions for those at the top could be on the cards.
Impact’s warning on possible strikes across the public service comes as the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (Ictu) decides this week on a planned campaign of opposition to pay cuts and reductions in public services.
The general purposes committee of Ictu will meet today to draw up proposals for this campaign. A final decision on this issue is expected to be taken at a meeting of the Ictu executive council on Wednesday.
Siptu has already told its branches in both the public and private sectors to prepare for a campaign of strikes and industrial action to resist pay cuts, job losses and the dismantling of existing terms and conditions
In his statement yesterday, Mr McLoone also rejected the view that there was a huge pay gap between comparable workers in the public and private sectors.
“Most public servants work hard for modest incomes and 100 per cent of them have already suffered a 7.5 per cent pay cut just six months ago. The Government and others are using flawed comparisons with average private sector pay to soften up public servants for another huge cut in their family income. Our members don’t want strikes or the disruption they will bring, but if they don’t make a stand it’s clear the Government will be back to slash their incomes again and again.”
Mr McLoone said the Government had ignored proposals put forward by Impact for an alternative approach to handling the drop in exchequer income.
“We have offered to negotiate an alternative involving a transformation of public services to do much more with less money, but the Government has not even responded to this initiative.
“The only option left to us is to make it clear that there will be strikes if the Government, or any public service employer, moves to impose compulsory redundancies, unilateral cuts in working hours, further pay cuts or reductions in pension entitlements.”
The result of the strike ballot is expected to be known by October 21st. The union’s central executive committee will meet the following day to consider the nature of any action if sanctioned in the ballot.
Impact’s rules require a two-thirds majority of those who vote to sanction industrial action. In March a ballot held following the introduction of the pension levy fell just short of the required level of support. However, the union said it was confident of achieving the required endorsement this time.
The internal Siptu bulletin sent on Friday to shop stewards said that while the Ictu campaign would entail multifaceted activities, “it is now clear that there is no prospect of success unless we are prepared to engage in industrial action and strike action”.
It said that a “gigantic confrontation”, which unions had sought to avoid, could be inevitable.