AFTER 10 weeks of industrial action, the union representing 10,000 low paid civil servants has settled its dispute over pay and the embargo on recruitment and pro motion.
The deal negotiated between the Civil and Public Service Union and the Department of Finance includes amalgamating the lowest grade into a higher paid grade and a new recruitment scheme to replace the embargo imposed by the Minister for Finance, Mr Quinn, in the last Budget. In a statement yesterday, the CPSU said it was halting industrial action immediately and would be recommending the deal to its members.
Last December, Mr Quinn announced that two out of every three vacancies in the Civil Service would remain unfilled. The measure was imposed from January this year in an effort to slow the increase in the £4.8 billion public pay bill.
Mr Quinn announced the scrapping of the embargo two weeks ago and yesterday's statement from the CPSU rubber stamped the new arrangement. Each Department will operate under a "target staffing level". The deal also amalgamates the lowest paid grade with the grade of clerical officer. At the top of their pay scale, clerical officers currently earn £50 a week more than lower paid clerical assistants.
The Department of Agriculture and the Department of Social Welfare were the Departments worst affected by the dispute.
The general secretary of the CPSU, Mr John O'Dowd, said other aspects of the pay deal would be reported to members over the next few days. The union holds its annual delegate conference on Friday and Saturday. A membership ballot will be held on the agreement.
A spokesman for the Department of Finance said it welcomed the union's decision to recommend the deal to its members.
