Connect, the State’s largest craft union has served notice of industrial action on the Government.

The dispute centres on the collapse of a wage-setting mechanism intended to ensure private sector pay and conditions are considered when setting terms for tradespeople in the public sector.

The union balloted for action on the issue in recent weeks and has now served notice that its members will commence industrial action, potentially including a strike, in three weeks’ time, involving about 2,000 members. The dispute is unrelated to the wider threat of disruption due to the lack of a new public sector pay deal.

On Monday, the union’s deputy general secretary, Brian Nolan, said a big part of the problem was the Government’s refusal to engage on the issues. Connect had a report commissioned that it wanted to use as the basis for talks at the commission but the employer side had refused to attend.

“The kernel of this is that there was traditionally a process by which pay and conditions in the private sector were assessed and the findings were used to help set the pay of our members in the public sector,” he said.

“That didn’t mean that public sector staff would be paid the same; it’s more complicated than that. For instance, members in the electrical contracting sector might be paid €29 an hour but there is an acceptance that their pensions are quite modest. But what was intended was that there would be information required to inform both sides so that pay and other terms were sufficient to ensure we could retain staff in public sector jobs.”

The system was discontinued during the financial crisis when, Nolan says, the union’s members “felt they were being responsible but that wasn’t meant to be a carte blanche for the employer side to simply disregard established procedures going forward”.

“We have been trying to raise this over a prolonged period of time but after some engagement at local level, the ladder was drawn up. What we seem to have is the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform saying, ‘We’re not going to talk to you about this and there’s nothing you can do about it’ and what this action is about is us saying: ‘Well, actually there is’.”

Connect represents several thousand of draft workers – electricians, fitters, plumbers and others – across the public sector, key employees due to their role in maintaining buildings, machinery and services across government departments and agencies, including the HSE and its hospitals.

It is part of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions’ public sector craft group, which also includes Siptu, Batu, Optasi and Unite, all of which are parties to the dispute.

Connect official Brian McAvinue said: “Connect members’ pay rates in the public sector have increasingly fallen behind what workers with similar skills can secure in the private sector”, with the value of the gap put at €4.40 per hour by the outside report the union side commissioned.

“This situation is not only unacceptable for our members but also reduces the effectiveness of public services because they cannot recruit or retain skilled craftspeople,” he said.

“The solution is simple: we need to reinstate the analogue wage-setting mechanism for craft grades in the public service, which was in operation until 2008.

“Connect members are very aware of the severe impact that the withdrawal of their labour will have on the ability to safely deliver public services. However, our action is unavoidable, as we are already losing essential craft skills from the public service. Without the urgent reinstatement of the analogue system, this crisis will only intensify and undermine the future of these services.”

The Department and HSE were contacted for comment.