The Civil Public and Services Union (CPSU) conference in Tralee has overwhelmingly endorsed an emergency motion calling on the 350 delegates representing 13,000 public servants to "fully support the nurses' unions, the INO and PNA, in their current dispute over pay and conditions."
The annual delegate conference of the CPSU in Tralee heard claims that lower paid workers in the public service and semi-State bodies had not done well under national pay agreements.
There was also increasing frustration expressed at the way inflation and cost of living increases were eating into any gains made, even before those pay awards reached members' pockets.
An emergency motion by An Post delegates instructing the executive to seek "the immediate" re-negotiation of Towards 2016 in the context of increasing inflation was passed unanimously.
Headlines referring to average yearly wages of €38,000 a year for civil and public service workers were untrue and large numbers were still earning up to €10,000 less than that figure, the conference heard.
John O'Keeffe, a delegate working at the National Museum and elected this weekend to the national executive, said his branch was looking for "an anonymous donor", along the lines of the benefactor who had purchased the Pádraig Pearse letter for the nation, to relieve museum workers' long battle for better wages and conditions.
There were three different scales for the same grade of secretary and attendant and it took 16 years to reach the top scale of €573 a week. Many were earning just €377.92 a week.
A motion instructing the incoming executive to examine the incremental pay structure at the National Museum received overwhelming support.
Seán Hallinan of the Science and Arts Attendants Branch said the attendants' branch representing attendants and shop staff in the National Museum of Ireland were the lowest paid grade within the whole civil service.
"Ending for once and for all the scandal of low pay in the civil and public service should be the main theme of this conference," Mr Hallinan said.
"Due to such a low basic wage some Science and Arts attendants were forced to work seven days a week, at least 36 nights a year, and often including Christmas Day and Easter Sunday, in order to survive in this so-called Tiger economy," Mr Hallinan told the conference.
General secretary Blair Horan said the executive recognised there was a problem with pay in the National Museum and the union was working to rectify it.
Rosaleen Glackin, outgoing deputy general secretary, said the equality agenda would remain "the biggest challenge" for the union.
Ms Glackin, who retired amid warm tributes and a standing ovation at the conference, said eight thousand claims on behalf of female clerical staff had been submitted since 2006.