PUBLIC SECTOR PAY BILL:UNION LEADERS have said that proposals to cut overtime allowances, extend the core working day and freeze increments have been floated in talks with the Government on an alternative plan to reduce the public sector pay bill by €1.3 billion without cutting pay.
In an internal memo to members last night, the general secretary of the Civil Public and Services Union (CPSU), Blair Horan, said talks with the Department of Finance over the last week on such an alternative plan had not made any progress.
“Some of the ideas mooted would impact very severely on CPSU grades and we will oppose them. These include: abolition of overtime allowances and reduction in premium pay; expanded working hours; freeze on increments and compulsory unpaid leave.
“In the Civil Service, this would have a disproportionate impact on lower-paid grades and would not be acceptable,” he said.
General secretary of the Psychiatric Nurses Association Des Kavanagh told The Irish Times yesterday that in the health sector, the abolition of location and qualification allowances as well as the special payment for Sunday working and the time-and-one-sixth rate for working between 6pm and 8pm had been discussed.
He also confirmed that management had proposed the introduction of an 8am-8pm core day during which overtime would not apply.
In his internal memo, Mr Horan said it was evident members understood that they would have to fight to maintain their pay and conditions. “My own view is that a one-day [strike] will not be enough to persuade the Government to change course,” he said.
Mr Horan also said it was clear from discussions with other public sector unions, which took place on Tuesday, that in the planned one-day strike on November 24th “a very strict approach will be taken on emergency cover – it will be life and limb only”.
“The practical effect of this will be that CPSU grades will not be required to provide emergency cover,” he said.
Health sector unions are to meet Health Service Executive officials today to discuss contingency arrangements during the planned strike on November 24th.
Mr Horan said that while talks with the Department of Finance on an alternative plan would continue next week, “in my judgment the strike on the 24th is certain to go ahead and we must prepare accordingly”.
“The bottom line is that there is no moral justification for a pay cut of 5 per cent on a civil servant on €25,000, while there are no tax increases on €100,000 salaries.
“The Government wants to pretend that the low-tax model can survive this crisis. It can’t. It is pure fantasy,” he said.