A ballot for a new pay deal for public sector workers is currently under way. Mark Kerins argues that workers should reject the deal as it comes far short of inflation and will prevent them from taking industrial action for the duration of the agreement.
Workers in public sector unions are currently being asked to vote on a Pay Agreement with a proposed 10.25% pay increase over 2.5 years, beginning from January 2024. The government has offered an increase but with attached conditions. These conditions are framed as promoting industrial harmony but in reality, the deal will restrict the collective bargaining power of public sector workers and close off avenues for pursuing resolutions in disputes.
Passages of the agreement are deliberately vague about public sector workers accepting changing work practices. Public sector workers will be expected to be more “agile and flexible, embracing new ways of working” but at the same time will give up our right to pursue industrial action. Such open language has the potential for abuse and would leave workers with no recourse until after 2026.
In recent years the economy has been volatile which means now is not the time to give up our collective power as workers in exchange for a paltry pay increase. Fórsa noted in a press release in January 2024 that there is a cumulative gap of 19% between wage increases and inflation over the last three years. Fórsa general secretary Kevin Callinan said himself that the initial pay offer in early January of 7% would “…fail any test of credibility in a ballot of union members.” The revised offer of 10.25% still falls far short of addressing the cost-of living crisis for public sector workers.
What is in the Public Sector Pay Agreement 2024:
The pay agreement is broken down as follows:
2024
- Increase in basic salary of 2.25% or €1,125, whichever is greater, from 1st January 2024
- Increase in basic salary of 1% on 1st June 2024
- Increase in basic salary of 1% or €500, whichever is greater, on 1st October 2024.
2025
- Increase basic salary of 2% or €1,000, whichever is greater, on 1st March 2025
- Increase in basic salary of 1% on 1st August 2025
2026
- Increase in basic salary of 1% or €500, whichever is greater, on 1st February 2026
- Increase in basic salary of 1% on 1st June 2026.
In exchange for these drawn out increases we will agree to the introduction of new ways of working across the board. We are agreeing to “…explore and agree the potential for temporary assignment schemes to be utilised in other non-crisis public service scenarios” as seen during Covid-19 pandemic. By voting yes public sector workers are agreeing to continue working Croke Park hours. The text of the agreement states we are committing to “…redeployment and public service mobility as set out in previous Agreements, including Section 1.7 of the Croke Park Agreement, Section 2.8 of the PSSA 2018 – 2020 and Section 1.5.3 of Building Momentum.” This agreement does nothing to stop the privatisation and outsourcing of our jobs in the public sector.
Public sector workers are giving up the right to initiate industrial action over the course of the deal relating to pay. We saw in the past few years how quickly costs can increase due to any international factors. In section 4.2.4 of the agreement it states “No form of industrial action shall be taken by any party in furtherance of claims or proposals within or beyond this process, where the parties are acting in accordance with the provisions of this agreement.”
In section 5.7.1, the document also states that we will not be able to revisit the agreement unlike previously when inflation rose sharply “The parties affirm that public service pay terms and conditions and any related issues shall not be revisited over the lifetime of this Agreement.”
The pay increases over the lifetime of the agreement leave workers no better off. Increases paid in yearly installments will not match projected inflation in each of those years and will not address the inflation of the past two years. This will continue to leave lower paid workers struggling with living expenses. We need an increase of 8.9% in 2024 alone to address inflation which means an increase of 4.25% in 2024 is effectively a pay cut to workers’ real wages.
We need fighting Trade Unions now:
Union leadership is pushing this inadequate offer because they know they do not have the heart for a fight. We need Trade Unions that fight. Each successive Public Sector Pay Deal since the 80’s has eroded workers pay and terms and conditions. There are recruitment and retention issues across the public sector. In Tusla, there are more than 850 posts vacant and it is estimated that over 3,000 Irish teachers are working in the Middle East with the cost of living in Ireland continually cited as the reason for emigration. There are more than 6,200 people waiting for home support due to a shortage of care workers. The leadership of the unions that represent public sector workers have backed down from the government in each dispute over the last few years. Trade union members themselves have the heart to fight for a better deal. Fórsa surveyed their members in April 2023 and of the 20,000 responses they found 95% in favour of “Fórsa organising a ballot for industrial action if negotiated increases are below the rate of inflation.”
The question needs to be asked with a majority of union members willing to undertake industrial action for fair pay, why are our unions unwilling to act? Membership and activism will increase with activity and union wins. This agreement and previous agreements roadblock and frustrate disputes and issues local or otherwise from being resolved. This is why unions have been pushing other benefits like discounts for insurance and shopping discounts online. The government does not respect public sector workers and does not fear our unions which is evident from the slow process of the talks over the past year. Both sides met 11 times before Christmas and Fórsa Secretary General Kevin Callinan said, “…there has been no discussion “whatsoever” in relation to pay so far.” Pay was at the top of every member’s priority list as evidenced by Fórsa’s 2023 survey but incredibly neither side discussed pay in 11 meetings in November and December 2023.
We need to vote no:
2024 is a year of elections and with 385,000 public sector workers we represent a huge voting block. We have enormous collective bargaining power. We work in vital jobs which keep our country running. A genuine threat to withdraw our labour would impose the necessary pressure to get a pay deal which works for us and addresses long standing issues with terms and conditions and addresses the cost of living crisis. This is not an agreement public sector workers deserve and it is certainly not all we can fight for. Public sector workers can return to pay talks to demand a better deal. Last summer Retained Firefighters rejected the first offer of a pay deal and secured a better offer. They were told at the time this was as good as they could hope for but they rejected the first deal and their unions returned to talks. I urge all other public sector workers to vote no in this ballot, and organise in your workplaces to fight for better pay and conditions.
Our unions must fight for a better deal – vote no.
