The threat of industrial action by public sector unions is “unnecessary” and “completely unwarranted”, Minister of Public Expenditure Jack Chambers has said as he insisted the Government wants a “fair” public pay deal.
Fórsa, the State’s largest public sector union, balloted on industrial action, including the possibility of strikes, with more than 96 per cent of members backing the proposal in votes last Tuesday.
The previous day Siptu public sector members voted by 97 per cent to back industrial action.
The previous public pay deal expired in June and there were exploratory meetings between the Public Services Committee of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions and officials from the Department of Public Expenditure.
These talks failed to provide a roadmap for negotiations, the unions have said, and the ballots are seen as a way of strengthening their hand by providing the option to announce action if no progress is made.
Fórsa has said that public sector pay has fallen behind prices by at least 5 per cent since 2020 and that this would have to be taken into consideration in any negotiations.
Chambers was asked about this and a contention from the union’s side that the Government should make an offer, during an interview on RTÉ’s This Week programme.
The Fianna Fáil TD said: “We offered to engage in constructive talks with the trade unions, and want to get a fair, equitable deal for public sector workers. I’ve been clear about that for the last number of months.
“The trade unions have made a decision to engage in balloting their members rather than engaging in substantive talks and that’s been unnecessary and, in my view, completely unwarranted because this Government has stood with the public sector workers and also stood for the expansion of public services in health, in education, in frontline services over the last number of years.
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“That two months has been lost because they’ve decided to ballot for industrial action rather than engaging in a discussion with officials from my department on a successor pay agreement.”
He said the lowest paid in the public service had seen increases of about 36 per cent over the past six years when inflation was at about 23 per cent. “So we’ve prioritised with the trade unions substantially supporting low-income workers across the public service.
“The lowest paid in the public service have seen their wages increase above inflation, and we want a fair deal. We want the stability and certainty that a pay agreement will bring.”
The Business Post quoted Fórsa’s general secretary Kevin Callinan as saying that Chambers “has never met me or us since he was appointed. Cabinet members are saying Jack Chambers is dealing with this. But he isn’t”.
He warned that if the Government side is “not going to budge … then we will be in for a long and bitter dispute”.
These remarks were put to Chambers during the radio interview. He responded by saying he meets the trade unions, including Fórsa’s deputy general secretary Katie Morgan, regularly at the Labour Employer Economic Forum which is chaired by the Taoiseach and he also referenced the National Economic Dialogue in June which included union participation.
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Chambers said: “I’m clear to any public sector working today, we value their consistent contribution on a 24/7 basis to help provide the critical public services need.
“We’re a Government that wants a fair deal and wants a deal that gives stability for pay, but also something that we can sustain from a fiscal perspective as well, and the only way that will happen is if the trade unions decide to come back into talks.”
He said his officials were “ready and willing to do that from whenever the trade unions indicate their willingness to re-enter the room”.
“Instead of having, I believe, unnecessary escalation, which is how I would reflect on what’s been said there, I think it’s important we get that engagement and try and get a deal like we’ve done over the last series of pay agreements.”