SIPTU deputy general secretary Adrian Kane has said the threat of strike action comes due to a mess of the Government’s own making.
SIPTU members in the public sector have voted overwhelmingly in favour of industrial action, with the union accusing the Government of failing to present serious proposals on pay or provide guarantees against outsourcing.
Speaking on RTÉ’s Morning Ireland, Mr Kane said he “does not believe this is a bluff” and that the union will meet over the next two weeks with representative committees to discuss what action will be taken.
Mr Kane said there was no adjustment to tax bands in the last budget to take account of inflation. He said this should be addressed and that tax bands should also be index-linked.
A spokesperson for the Department of Public Expenditure said the Government remains available to engage with unions on all matters “without preconditions”.
Mr Kane said that negotiations were not being jeopardised by putting preconditions in place.
“SIPTU conducts negotiations, hundreds of pay deals at the level of the firm of individual organisations without recourse to ballot for industrial action,” Mr Kane said.
“Typically, how those negotiations unfold is that the company and the management outline what they’re prepared to put on the table. They don’t leave it to the last minute and start trying to negotiate every other thing.
“So, because of the Government’s position and the way that they have conducted preliminary negotiations to date, we have taken this decision,” he said.
He said that he would not call it a precondition.
“People are angry. We’re a representative and a democratic organisation and when we get a mandate by our members for strike action of 97%, we have to keep faith with them,” he said.
“If the Government wants to engage with us, the door is open and we’ll do that, but we will also keep faith with our own members,” he said.