Public sector workers prepare for second strike after rejecting pay offer

More than 300,000 public sector workers are set to strike for a second time on November 12th and step up their ongoing work-to-rule after their unions endorsed a decision by negotiators to reject a pay offer worth 7.75 per cent over 2½ years.At a meeting of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions’ Public Sector Services Committee on Monday, officials from the 15 unions not directly involved in the talks heard detail of the Government’s offer on pay. Chief negotiator Kevin Callinan told the media afterwards that the offer fell far short of union expectations.The offer currently on the table, the meeting was told, amounts to 6.75 per cent in instalments over the 30-month period to be covered by the proposed deal, with a further 1 per cent from a local bargaining element. This element would be paid toward its conclusion.The unions had been expecting 2 per cent for local bargaining, which allows special pay arrangements for particular roles and grades, something they believed was committed to in the last agreement. READ MORESpeaking after Monday’s meeting, Callinan said: “We put a lot of effort over the last two weeks into responding to their [the Government side’s] preferences in relation to the duration of an agreement and in relation to the productivity asks. “We now find that they haven’t responded sufficiently in relation to cost of living. They simply haven’t stepped up to the mark on things like local bargaining and other related matters.”Adrian Kane of Siptu said there was also an issue in relation to low-paid workers, with no offer from the Government to replicate the element of guaranteed minimum increases for those earning under €50,000 a year. That aspect of the last agreement boosted the increases received by the lowest-paid public servants from the 9.25 per cent headline figure to just over 17 per cent.Kane described the absence of a similar approach so far during these talks as “deeply regrettable”.Both sides are due to meet separately with members of the Government-appointed three-person steering group to see if there is a way forward. The steering group is chaired by Kevin Foley.If it goes ahead, the strike on November 12th would close schools, force the cancellation of thousands of hospital appointments and disrupt other public services. Crucially, it could also potentially affect a key day of the Irish EU presidency, with a meeting of European heads of state and government scheduled to take place in Dublin.Responding to the strike announcement, Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform Jack Chambers said it was “extremely regrettable” that the unions had chosen to escalate the dispute, adding that another day of strike action was likely to cause “significant disruption”.“Government wants an agreement that gets the balance right by delivering a pay deal that is fair and credible to workers and is fiscally responsible and sustainable for the country,” he said.