THE UNION representing lower-paid staff in the Civil Service has voted to withhold co-operation with reforms under the Croke Park agreement.
The annual conference of the Civil Public and Services Union in Athlone also voted at the weekend in favour of taking industrial action in the event of the Government introducing further pay cuts for its members.
General secretary Blair Horan said the decision in effect to block reforms under Croke Park meant the union was now going to have to definitively set out its stance on the deal.
“It is going to be make-up-your-mind time. We are either in or out. We are not going to be able to continue with a policy of having it both ways.
Mr Horan said there would now have to be a ballot of members, as was normal when contemplating a campaign of industrial action, including non co-operation.
Members of the CPSU voted to reject the Croke Park agreement in a ballot last year.
However, the conference heard on Friday that the union had so far adopted a policy of “constructive ambiguity” about the deal, under which issues were considered pragmatically on a case-by-case basis.
Delegates voted decisively in favour of the motion proposed by the union’s Social Protection – Dublin North branch which instructed its executive to withhold co-operation with reforms.
The motion said such co-operation was clearly tied to a guarantee that there would be no further pay cuts before 2014. However, it said union members had experienced significant reductions in their take-home pay as a result of the Budget in December.
Mr Horan warned on Friday that any rejection of Croke Park could lead to members losing the protections in relation to pay and job security set out in the deal.
Separately, delegates at the conference on Saturday voted to take industrial action in the event of the Government introducing further pay cuts.
Anne Quinlan of the Transport branch said that union “should be prepared to bring this Republic to a complete standstill if that is what is required”.
She said that if a tipping point was reached, there would be long and protracted industrial action.
“I believe we will fight because we will have no option. The few shillings we might get back will never redress what we have lost. I feel another pay cut or tax hike will tip an awful lot of us into real poverty.”
Terry Kelleher said the union was facing a tougher agenda this year and next that would make what was experienced in the recent past seem like “a bit of a tea party”. He said that strike action was all about timing.
“If we went to members now and said ‘let us go on strike’, they would not do it now. However if they [the Government] come back with another pay cut, if they come back to take our flexi-time, if they come back to expand our working week, I think the members will react.
“And it will be very important for us to have a strategy in place to hit fast and effectively when the members want. There needs to be a circular to the members to explain that this union is fully prepared to use its strike fund and all its resources to protect what little wages we have left.”
Mr Horan said it was important for the conference to send a clear signal that if there was any attempt by Government – and he did not expect there would be – to look for pay cuts, the union’s response would be swift, united and decisive.
On Friday, delegates at the conference rejected an emergency motion put forward by the union’s executive threatening industrial action if the Government introduced further pay cuts. The motion also called for a restoration of pay rates for those earning under €35,000 in the light of savings made to date.
However, some delegates argued that by backing such a motion, they would be accepting Croke Park “by the back door”.
