Ballots open for public sector workers

Ballots for industrial action have been opened for 90,000 public service workers represented by the trade union Fórsa.

Workers are being asked to decide whether to take industrial action for a pay increase to cover July to December 2026, as well as increases to cover 2027 and/or the duration of any proposed agreement.

The vote will also cover the resolution and implementation of Local Bargaining claims, and for no changes to be made to work practices, organisation of work, or organisational structures without the agreement of the union.

The ballot will remain open until 1 September.

At the end of June this year, the Public Service Agreement 2024-2026 – which set pay and conditions for public sector workers as agreed with Government – expired. Talks between 19 unions representing public sector workers - including Fórsa, SIPTU, and the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) - and the Government broke down earlier this summer, after a failure to agree a basis for a successor to the deal.

The unions said that exploratory engagements in June did not provide sufficient assurance that a new agreement would address the cost-of-living pressures facing public sector workers.

Fórsa’s General Secretary, Kevin Callinan, said: “The previous agreement has not expired, and there is no successor in place. That means there is no framework governing pay or wider workplace arrangements at a national level. “Fórsa members are dealing with sustained increases in the cost of living, and the absence of an agreement creates real uncertainty about how their living standards will be protected in the period ahead.

“This ballot gives members the opportunity to have their say on how we respond. It is a necessary step to ensure Fórsa members’ voices are heard and their interests are defended,” he said.

The union also said that any renewed engagement with government must begin with credible solutions to protect pay and living standards, as inflation in 2026 had already eroded pay improvements under the previous agreement.