Government reaches agreement with unions on pay deal in civil service

The Government has reached agreement with unions on reducing the pay and pensions bill in the Civil Service and negotiations on a revised Croke Park II agreement are focusing on the two largest parts of the public service; health and education.

The Department of Public Expenditure and Reform said intensive talks were underway in these sectors at present and that the final shape of any deal would be known when the talks process concluded. This is expected to occur within the next 24 hours.

The chief executive of the Labour Relations Commission, Kieran Mulvey, is expected to report to the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform Brendan Howlin once the talks process is completed.

The Minister will brief the Cabinet on developments on Tuesday.

The Department of Public Expenditure and Reform declined to comment on suggestions made by the Minister of State at the department Brian Hayes on Sunday that the Government might secure less than the €300 million it had been seeking in reductionons on the public service pay and pensions bill this year. Mr Hayes said the Government was focussed on generating savings of €1 billion by 2013.

The Department of Public Expenditure and Reform said: “Good progress has been made across all sectors, with agreement yesterday for the civil service.”

The HSE said it was sticking to its target of €150 million in savings from the health sector payroll this year.

Government sources have said the provision of additional working hours by public service staff is absolutely critical if there is to be any new agreement . The issue of a longer working week is one of the main items at issue between health service management and unions .

Government sources said the management side had informed unions there would no be concession on the requirement for additional working hours which they believe to be a central component of plans to reduce the paybill.

Health service management has proposed allowing nurses to retain their double time premium payment for work on a Sunday in return for an increase in the working week from 37.5 to 39 hours.

Sources close the Psychiatric Nurses Association (PNA), which was involved in talks on Monday morning said the requirement for a longer working week was “a problem” in the talks.

PNA sources said an increase in hours for its members would mean they would work longer than management grades with less onerous jobs.

Meanwhile, talks between management and teaching unions have started for the first time as part of the new talks process at the Labour Relations Commission.

Members of two more teaching unions, the Teachers’ Union of Ireland (TUI) and the Association of Secondary Teachers Ireland (ASTI) have voted for industrial action, up to and including strikes, if the Government moves unilaterally to cut pay or worsen conditions of employment.

In a ballot result announced on Monday evening, the TUI said 84 per cent of members backed industrial action. The turnout in the vote was 63 per cent.

Eighty-seven per cent voted in favour of industrial action in the ASTI ballot

Last week members of the Irish National Teachers Organisation also voted in favour of industrial action if the Government moved unilaterally to cut pay.

TUI General Secretary John MacGabhann said: “TUI members – along with their colleagues in Association of Secondary Teachers Ireland (ASTI) and INTO - have given the Government a clear message that if it unilaterally moves to cut pay or worsen working conditions it will be confronted by the teaching and lecturing workforce.”

“Teachers and lecturers have already contributed a huge amount towards national recovery through increased productivity, on top of the pension levy and pay cuts which have reduced their take-home pay by as much as 20%. In addition, newly qualified teachers have been cynically targeted for further pay reductions and many young teachers are currently surviving on portions of jobs, on scraps of hours.

ASTI General Secretary Pat King said: “Teachers have already taken significant pay cuts averaging 14 per cent and have made significant contributions in terms of additional work and flexibility. Young teachers on low incomes have been subjected to additional pay cuts. The deep sense of unfairness felt by teachers is expressed in today’s ballot result and in the emphatic rejection of the Croke Park II proposals last month. This is the context in which the ASTI is attending the LRC talks.”