Disruption to schools and the health service is likely after public sector unions agreed to stage a one-day strike on October 14th.
The move is designed to increase pressure on the Government in advance of talks on a new national pay deal.
A strike would cause significant disruption to public health services, and impact many other sectors. It would also close schools for the day should their unions vote to back the action.
At a meeting of the public sector committee (PSC) of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions on Friday – a group comprised of 19 unions with members employed by the State or its various agencies – it was agreed plans would be drawn up next week.
PSC chairman Kevin Callinan, who is also Fórsa general secretary, said in a letter to his members that while the intention was to take action short of strikes “as far as possible”, it had been agreed there would be a one-day stoppage with pickets on workplaces on October 14th.
He said “a further strike, if necessary, is also planned”. It is intended to involve all of the unions whose members have backed industrial action in ballots completed by that date.
The leaderships of the three largest public sector unions – Fórsa, Siptu and the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation – have all received the required mandates over the past two weeks. The three teachers’ unions will also have been balloted by then.
Therefore, if it goes ahead, the strike will cause substantial disruption across the education, health and local authority services sectors.
There are more than 400,000 public sector workers in the State with about 60 per cent estimated to be members of unions, although that figure is significantly higher in some areas.
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Callinan said the required notice of action would be served on some employers over the coming days. It has already been served on the HSE by the main health unions, and an initial work to rule has been announced for September 30th.
The HSE had said it would wait to hear from the unions on what action was planned before drawing up contingency measures. The two sides met late on Friday afternoon.
The Government has said its representatives are willing to engage in relation to a new pay deal, but there have been disagreements between the two sides over how the process should proceed.
Callinan said last week the unions have made it clear that they want what they say is lost ground on pay to be made up.
The Parliamentary Budget Office has said a new public sector pay deal that mirrored the terms of the last one would cost €6 billion over its three-year term if there is no increase to staff numbers.
In addition, it could add up to €4.7 billion a year to the public wage bill if projected employee numbers are at the higher end of expectations.
In a report published on Friday, the Parliamentary Budget Office said that under what it considers the most likely scenarios for growth across the public workforce, the annual wage bill would increase from a projected €31.2 billion this year and an estimated €32.3 billion in each of the next three years if no deal was agreed, to between €35.87 billion and €37 billion in 2029 if such a deal was repeated.
The last deal provided for basic increases of 9.25 per cent over its 2½-year term between 2024 and the middle of this year. The increases amounted to 9.6 per cent when compounded.