Over 70,000 public sector workers back industrial action

Over 70,000 public sector workers across several trade unions have voted in favour of industrial action, in the largest vote in favour of industrial action in the history of the state.

Fórsa trade union said that nearly 63,000 of its members had voted in favour of industrial action, accounting for 96.6% of voters. It said that the ballot saw a 72.6% turnout of its members.

Votes were also carried out by SIPTU and Unite the Union, whose members also voted in favour of industrial action. Members of SIPTU voted 98% in favour of industrial action, and 97% in favour of strike action.

The industrial action is expected to affect health, local government and education services, as well as government departments and State agencies. It will range from work-to-rule and the refusal of overtime, up to and including full strike action.

Fórsa general secretary Kevin Callinan, who also chairs the Public Services Committee of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions, said: “The result is an emphatic mandate from public service workers. By failing to engage seriously on pay after the expiry of the last agreement, the Government has left them with no credible option but to prepare for industrial action.

“Our members deliver essential services every day. They did not take this decision lightly, but they have overwhelmingly backed industrial action because the current position is not sustainable.

“Fórsa remains available for meaningful engagement, but Government must come forward with a credible pay offer that properly addresses the cost pressures facing public service workers,” he said.

The ballot was called after talks between trade unions and Government failed to reach any agreement on the basis for talks which would replace the recently expired public sector pay deal.

Fórsa also said that the talks did not provide sufficient assurance that a new agreement would address the cost-of-living pressures facing public service workers.

The deal, which expired in June, provided for general pay increases of 9.25% for public sector workers, along with a 1% local bargaining fund.

SIPTU Deputy General Secretary Adrian Kane and Unite Deputy General Secretary Tom Fitzgerald both said that the Government must now give workers a meaningful offer to avoid disruptions.

“If the Government wants to avoid a winter of strikes, it must stop hiding its head in the sand, come to the table, and make public sector workers a meaningful offer which ensures that workers pay packets, at the very least, keep pace with spiralling inflation,” said Fitzgerald.