Public service union leaders warn time is running short to negotiate new pay deal

Public service trade unions have warned that “time is running short” to negotiate a new pay agreement for about 340,000 State employees.

At a meeting on Friday public service trade union leaders maintained that any new deal “ must be sufficiently robust to last until the worst of the Covid crisis has passed”.

They also said that any new accord must be capable of addressing a wide variety of concerns among different sectors and groups in the public service.

The current public serviced pay agreement expires at the end of the year and union leaders are worried about delays in convening new talks to determine whether there is a basis for negotiating a successor agreement.

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In a statement on Friday the public services committee of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions expressed concerns "that the time available to negotiate, draft and ratify a successor public service pay agreement, ahead of the expiration of the current PSSA (Public Service Stability Agreement) on 31st December, is running short".

The meeting was scheduled to discuss progress to date on the contacts which have been underway since the summer with the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform about the potential for reaching a new agreement.

The Irish Times reported on Thursday that Kevin Callinan, general secretary of Fórsa and chair of the public services committee had advised senior figures in his union that there currently was "no basis for a negotiation with the Government on a new public service pay agreement".

He expressed disappointment at the lack of progress made in recent months with the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform despite discussions with the Minister Michael McGrath in July.

Meeting postponed

Mr Callinan told the public service committee meeting on Friday that a scheduled meeting with the Department of Public Expenditure this week had been postponed “because officials had yet to consult with the Minister to establish the basis for any negotiations”.

Mr Callinan said: “The delay sends a signal that should be a cause of concern to all parties, including the Government. There is now a real possibility that we will find ourselves, perhaps unintentionally, without an agreement at the end of the year.”

“The absence of an agreement would make for a very difficult industrial relations environment, which would itself be complicated further by the lingering Covid crisis. I don’t believe that’s in anybody’s best interests,” he said.

In its statement the public services committee of Ictu said representatives at the meeting on Friday had “shared their concerns about the very short time available to complete a new agreement, and about ensuring any new deal was capable of addressing a wide variety of sectoral concerns”.

It said union leaders “also said that any agreement must be sufficiently robust to last until the worst of the Covid crisis has passed”.

Mr Callinan said the basis of negotiations for a new public service agreement would need to address specific austerity measures, include an acceptable approach to pay, and provide a clear path to resolving particular long-standing issues within public service grades, groups and categories, ensuring an ultimate resolution in each case. He said these priorities had been outlined to the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform officials as the basic requirements of any negotiation.

The Department of Public Expenditure and Reform said on Thursday that exploratory discussions between the parties to the current public service agreement were ongoing . It said it did not “ intend to comment on the specifics relating to those discussions which are confidential to the parties”.