A PLANNED escalation of industrial action by lower-paid civil servants could lead to disruption of State exams in the months ahead.
The annual conference of the Civil Public and Services Union (CPSU) in Galway yesterday backed calls for an intensification of its campaign against the Government’s pension levy for staff in the public sector.
The union’s strike committee will have to decide on the nature of the escalation if there is no progress on its demands for the levy to be abolished for low- and middle-income earners as part of the current social partnership talks.
Union sources said that any intensification would involve the targeting of specific areas. However, the union considers the “nuclear option” would involve action which disrupted State exams.
Other areas that could be affected by any escalation of the industrial action are State revenue-generation processes, the operation of passport offices and driving test arrangements.
The union represents lower-paid mainly clerical grades in these services.
The general secretary of the CPSU, Blair Horan, told delegates that if the Government did not see sense on the levy in the social partnership talks, then the union had to be prepared step up its campaign and contemplate serious industrial action which would inconvenience the public.
He said the union had fought a good fight on the issue of the levy so far, which included a one-day stoppage and several lunchtime protests which generally did not affect the public.
Mr Horan said the union needed to send a message to the Government that the pension levy would not be accepted. The Government was seeking to get “the little people” to pay for a mess which they did not create.
He described the levy as a pay cut and said such reductions would not do anything to solve the jobs crisis and would make the economy worse.
Mr Horan said that the people who caused the mess had to be held accountable.
“The people who did best out of the boom have to pay their share and be accountable. When they play their part, we are quite prepared to play our part.”
Dennis Keane of the union executive said civil servants realised there was an economic crisis, but said the Government considered CPSU members and public servants as easy targets.
He said there was a groundswell of anger across the public sector and if people were given leadership, they would follow.
Terry Kelleher of An Post branch said the current economic crisis was being used to accelerate the race to the bottom.
He said taking money out of the pockets of the low paid would not solve the problem one iota and would not create one job.
Mr Kelleher said the €1.6 billion generated by the pension levy was the same amount as the Government invested in Anglo Irish Bank.