Fórsa warns of winter strikes if no pay deal reached

Fórsa General Secretary Kevin Callinan has said public service workers feel they have “no choice” but to strike over pay on Wednesday, adding he predicts lots of industrial action over the winter if an agreement is not reached.

Mr Callinan said in reality there has been no change in the Government’s position since June when preliminary discussions were held.

Public sector unions have accused the Government of failing to make a meaningful offer on pay and are planning large-scale strike action on 14 October.

More than 300,000 public sector workers are to take action on Wednesday, in the biggest day of national strike action since the aftermath of the 2008 economic crash.

SIPTU yesterday also announced further strike action on all public sector workplaces for 21 October.

Among the protests planned is a picket line at Leinster House, where the Dáil is scheduled to sit.

Mr Callinan has said unions want to talk about cost of living first for a negotiation, but that Government has said this is a “precondition”.

Speaking on RTÉ’s Today with Áine Kerr, Mr Callinan said: “What they want is a multi-annual agreement. They want to talk about modernisation and reform; they want it all to be within fiscal parameters and they want to talk about workplace change.”

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He stressed that it “seems that a precondition is only a precondition when workers want to talk about it”.

The negotiation, he said, is about cost of living and that workers, within and outside the public service are affected and are “struggling to make ends meet”, adding that there needs to be a provision for the second half of this year.

“The average increase for public service this year is going to be 1.5%, the CSO said on Thursday inflation is running at 4.1%.”

Read more:
Analysis: Is a massive public sector strike on Wednesday inevitable?
‘Dial it down’, says Taoiseach on planned public sector strike action

Mr Callinan said the provision in the Budget of €1.2bn for the public service pay deal will at best provide a 2.5% increase next year due to inflation, adding that the average public servant is at least 5% behind prices for the years from 2021 to 2025.

Fórsa believes it is not credible to their members if the opening position is a pay cut for next year “and nothing to address the gap that has arisen over the last five years”.

On possible closures on Wednesday, Mr Callinan said nobody wants to be on strike, but that civil and public servants “feel they have no choice on this occasion”.

Mr Callinan said from an organisation and planning point of view, Fórsa is now focused on a strike on the following Wednesday and industrial action into November, adding that there could be “lots of industrial action through the winter”.