The Civil Public and Services Union (CPSU) announced tonight that its members have voted overwhelmingly in favour of strike action over public service pay cuts.
Some 83 per cent of CPSU members who voted in the ballot expressed support for the action.
General secretary of the CPSU, Blair Horan, described the results as “decisive”.
The ballot gives the union a mandate to engage in strikes in selected areas of the civil service in protest at the cuts.
This could see the union bringing out on strike relatively small numbers of staff in key areas as part of any overall escalated campaign.
In such a scenario, it is likely the staff involved would receive “enhanced” strike pay from the union for the course of such a dispute.
The CPSU is the first union to conduct a strike ballot since the Government cut public service pay levels in the budget.
Some 76 per cent of the union’s members participated in the ballot.