THE PROPOSED new public service pay and reform deal has received a boost following the decision of the national executive council of Siptu, the country’s largest union, to back the proposals.
The prospects of the deal being accepted across the public service remain in serious jeopardy, however.
After a four-hour meeting yesterday, Siptu’s national executive council said “the balance of advantage” rested with acceptance by members in a forthcoming ballot.
Earlier, the executive council of the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) unanimously recommended to its 40,000 members that they should reject the deal in a ballot.
The council said it was not recommending acceptance as it failed to provide guarantees of no further pay cuts, and would require it to back policies that would materially damage the health service.
The developments yesterday mean the executives of six public service unions affiliated to the Irish Congress of Trade Unions have now opposed the Croke Park agreement. Another union and a staff representative body which are not affiliated to congress have also rejected the deal.
The executives of four public service unions have backed the deal, which guarantees no further pay cuts until 2014, no compulsory redundancies, and a mechanism for potentially restoring original pay rates in return for work practice reform.
Several senior trade union leaders last night forecast that if members of the unions which recommend rejection follow this advice in forthcoming ballots, the deal will be defeated.
The position of Impact, the largest public service union, will be crucial in the process, and there were some indications yesterday that it could yet adopt a softer position towards the deal. Last week its executive expressed opposition, although it did not finalise a wording for members. Last night, a spokesman said the decision on whether its executive would urge members to vote against the deal, or just not make any recommendation, was still “in play”. The executive is to meet tomorrow.
Minister for Finance Brian Lenihan said yesterday it was “very disappointing” that some union executives had rejected the deal, but said the members themselves would have an opportunity to vote on the matter.
“The Government has given every opportunity for dialogue to take place in the early months of this year because we attached great importance to trying to secure industrial peace with the staff side of the public services,” Mr Lenihan said on RTÉ’s News at One.
The Minister said further clarification could be provided on the core issue – that the Government did not intend to make compulsory redundancies or bring in further pay cuts.
“But clarification cannot mean that the Government will depart from its budgetary targets this year or restore pay adjustments which have already taken place,” he said.
Siptu’s national executive council said the deal would benefit from greater clarification, but that it offered security on jobs, pay and pensions, as well as a framework for recovering lost ground.