The Government faces a £30 million bill to put right a major anomaly in Civil Service pay structures. About 6,000 civil servants will benefit, costing the State an extra £12 million a year. Because the original claim was made in 1990, arrears will add another £18 million to the bill. The Civil and Public Service Union has secured the increases as the result of an appeal to the High Court against a Lab our Court recommendation last year which had rejected a CPSU equality claim.
The deputy general secretary of the union, Ms Rosaleen Glacken, gave details of the award to the union's conference in Galway at the weekend.
The claim was to secure parity for clerical staff with paper-keepers, who earn £40 a week more for similar work. Predominantly a male grade, paper-keepers received the differential on the basis that they had no promotional outlets whereas clerical staff had what the Labour Court recommendation described as "unlimited promotional opportunities".
The union is also considering legal action in pursuit of a claim that overtime rates for clerical staff should be calculated on the basic 34.75 hour week rather than the gross week of 41 hours, which includes lunch breaks. If successful, the claim could boost overtime earnings from £9.29p an hour to £10.96p at the top of the scale and could have knock-on effects for thousands of other workers in the public sector.
Meanwhile, the CPSU has secured commitments from the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform that a further 560 clerical positions within the Garda are to be "civilianised", including almost 150 upgrades. More than 800 clerical officers working in Garda stations receive £70 a week less than gardai doing identical work.
Industrial action in the Department of Agriculture over the contracting out of work to combat foot-and-mouth is being considered by the CPSU. Its general secretary, Mr Blair Horan, stressed no action taken would hinder the Government's campaign against the disease.