Down to the wire but the strike is off

A day of strike action, planned for today, Thursday, was called off yesterday after the draft of a pay agreement was agreed with Government negotiators.

Talks concluded at the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) at around 3.30am on Wednesday.

The Public Services Committee (PSC) of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU) recommended to its affiliate unions that all industrial action be stood down to allow union executives to consider the deal and organise ballots of their members.

It is understood that the PSC aims to have an aggregate decision from its members following the conclusion of these ballots early in the week starting 7 December.

A number of rallies had been planned to take place across the country by striking workers today, including in Cork.

The strikes would have also coincided with a European Political Community meeting in Dublin, where dozens of European leaders are due to gather.

The proposed agreement provides for pay increases for public sector workers of 10.75% over the next two years and nine months, running retroactively from July of this year.

It also contains provisions for 'local bargaining', which allows collective agreements to be agreed in certain sectors or regions to be included on top of the nationally-agreed deal.

The final phase of 'local bargaining' will be implemented during the lifetime of the pay deal established following the conclusion of this deal.

The deal also contains provisions on digital transformation of the public service, including the adoption of AI.

The parties agreed to support the adoption of AI in a way which improves work practices for public sector workers.

However, the agreement also contains a commitment to provisions laid out in previous deals, which state that compulsory redundancies will not apply in the public service.

Workers will be trained in the use of AI in the workplace, as well as its limitations and potential risks, as well as supporting the development of specialist skills and expertise in key areas.

The agreement also contains provisions around hybrid work, with the Government committing to being a leader in the labour market in the provision of hybrid options for workers.

The proposed deal would replace the previous deal which expired in July of this year.

Following what unions said was a failure by Government to present an acceptable basis for talks on a new deal,

public sector workers began a work-to-rule on 5 October, and took a single day of strike action on 14 October.

This article was produced with the support of the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme funded by Coimisiún na Meán.