The 14,000-strong Civil and Public Service Union is to submit a pay claim of about 15 per cent if the Programme for Prosperity and Fairness collapses.
Union negotiators are to present their claim formally to the Department of Finance on November 29th, just a week before the deadline expires for review talks on the PPF.
"If the PPF holds together, we will go the benchmarking route with our claim," CPSU general secretary Mr Blair Horan said yesterday. "But if the PPF falls apart, there is a firm determination by our members not to be left behind."
Mr Horan said the size of the claim was not decided at this stage but would be in line with local agreements negotiated so far this year. This would indicate a claim of about 15 per cent.
He did not rule this out and said the claim would be "for a substantial pay increase for all civil service grades represented by the union." This amounts to about 11,000 members. There are a further 3,000 in Eircom, An Post and the semi-state sector.
The Technical Engineering and Electrical Union has already mandated its members to lodge local claims on employers if the PPF review fails. Yesterday the Irish secretary of the Amalgamated Transport and General Workers Union, Mr Mick O'Reilly, said his members would take similar action.