The Unite trade union has said that its members in the public sector have voted overwhelmingly in favour of industrial action if the Government fails to make a meaningful offer on pay.
Yesterday, the Prison Officers Association said its members have also backed industrial action over the same issue.
Similar ballots have also been announced by other public sector unions including Fórsa, SIPTU and the INMO.
The previous public sector pay deal expired on 30 June, and formal talks have yet to begin on a successor agreement.
The last deal provided for pay increases of up to 10.25% over the course of the two-and-a-half-year period.
Unite said it will now consult with its shop stewards on the nature and timing of industrial action.
“If the government wants to avoid a winter of strikes, it must stop hiding its head in the sand, come to the table and make public sector workers a meaningful offer which ensures that workers’ pay packets, at the very least, keep pace with spiralling inflation,” said Unite’s deputy regional secretary Tom Fitzgerald.
Minister for Public Expenditure Jack Chambers has said previously that the threat of industrial action is unnecessary and that the Government wants to reach an agreement on public sector pay.
A spokesperson for the Department of Public Expenditure said the Government remains available for engagement with unions on all matters.
“It is only through engagement that agreement can be reached,” the department said.
