IRELAND: The Workplace Relations Commission has invited government representatives and unions to resume public sector pay talks

Dublin: The Workplace Relations Commission has invited government representatives and unions to resume public sector pay talks next month. 

Talks ended without an agreement in June after unions rejected the government's pay offer, claiming it was too low for inflation. In March, unions and staff associations launched a 'building momentum' review clause in the current public sector pay deal due to rising inflation. In last month's wage negotiations, the government offered a 2.5% wage increase this year and 2.5% next year, but the unions rejected the deal.

Public Expenditure Reform Minister Michael McGrath said both sides needed to be united in the talks to reach a realistic deal. He said public servants deserve a pay hike but the government will not go after the price hike.

Unions had earlier said they would step up preparations for industrial action to secure a better public sector pay offer. The Public Services Committee of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions met this week and agreed to organize a co-ordinated union campaign on public service pay backed by industrial action ballots.

ICTU president Kevin Callinan said the unions were now united in their resolve to secure a credible public service wage offer. They need to know that the government's position has changed, he said, adding that the ICTU is ready to do "whatever it takes" in relation to possible strike action. "No one wants to be in this situation. We are confused because we are getting mixed messages coming out of the government. We have to try and negotiate a deal. We made it very clear when the talks were suspended on Friday, June 17, that our position is negotiable. The difficulty everyone has faced is that the government's position has been solidified. We have been waiting for the last six weeks. , to see if that changes. During that period, we got mixed messages from various government figures.

Meanwhile, we saw inflation rise again to 9.1%. When we started this process in March, when we started the review, inflation was 5.6%. What we want is a fair deal. What we need is a review of the existing contract from 2021 to 2022. It provides two general round increases of 1% each year in October.

We are now looking at inflation around 11% for two years. What we need is to close the gap between the inflation rate of about 11 percent and what the government is promising. That's what unions say needs to happen now.

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