Trade unions have resumed talks with the Government this afternoon on an alternative agreement to reduce the public sector pay bill by €1.3 billion without cutting pay levels.
If the talks fail, the unions are to hold a second 24-hour stoppage around the country tomorrow week, on December 3rd.
Chairman of the 24/7 Frontline Services Alliance Des Kavanagh welcomed the talks, which resumed between the Public Services Committee of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions and the Government at 3pm today.
“We hope that further industrial action can be avoided but we will be carefully monitoring the talks to ensure that any proposals emerging from them take into account the special conditions in which frontline emergency workers operate”, he said.
A statement issued by the Garda Representative Association (GRA) and Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors (AGSI) welcomed the renewal of the talks and said they hoped "further industrial action can be avoided and a strategy agreed that balances the need for fiscal adjustment with the protection of essential frontline public services and those who provide them."
"Gardaí are denied the right to attend these talks - or any forum - to discuss their pay and employment conditions and we are also denied the right to industrial action."
The statement said the association members "have been treated disgracefully" during the current crisis.
"The Government has unilaterally reduced the pay of gardaí and used legislation to deny them any recourse to a fair hearing. We are to rely on negotiations by other workers to achieve equity; this must change," the statement said.
Yesterday, some 250,000 public sector workers take part in what unions described as the State's largest-ever strike. Schools, Civil Service offices and many local authority services closed for yesterday's strike, while hospitals and courts ran a limited service. Thousands of public service workers took part in pickets.
Trade union leaders have acknowledged for the first time that temporary measures which would reduce public sector earnings next year are necessary if across-the board pay cuts are to be avoided.
The deal the unions are hoping to reach with the Government would see substantial savings generated by means of a public service transformation programme which would involve significant reductions in numbers and new work practice reforms.
However, Minister for Finance Brian Lenihan said that he and other members of the Government were deeply disappointed at yesterday's action.
"Public servants enjoy a job security and a guaranteed pension that is unique in the workforce at present. In that regard, their experience during this recession is far more benign than that of many in the private sector," he said.
He told the Dáil last night it was "not unreasonable" to seek a reduction in public service salaries, given the parlous state of the public finances.