UNION REACTION:PUBLIC SERVICE trade unions have warned of industrial action if attempts are made to implement job cut recommendations by the McCarthy group. They have, however, indicated a willingness to negotiate on public service reorganisation if pay, pensions and conditions are protected.
Impact general secretary Peter McLoone warned: “If the Government attempts to impose compulsory redundancies or cuts in pay and pensions, there will be a reaction which will include sustained, widespread and painful industrial action, including strikes.”
The recommendations “would mean agony, not pain, for the most vulnerable in Irish society and poorer services for all citizens”.
“The inescapable fact is that according to Department of Finance figures, a quarter of a million public servants earn less than €60,000 a year before tax and before the 7.5 per cent pension levy imposed in March,” Mr McLoone added.
“Of these, 55,000 are paid below €30,000 a year and 74,000 are paid between €30,000 and €40,000 a year. That’s a fraction of the salaries of those who tell us these modest earnings should be cut and cut again.”
Siptu general president Jack O’Connor described the report as “an exercise in fantasy”. The leader of the largest union in the State said they were “entirely unworkable, unnecessary and downright counter-productive”.
The board appears “to believe that reducing social welfare will drive people back to work. This is patent nonsense when the numbers on the live register will exceed 500,000 by the end of the year.”
Civil and Public Services Union general secretary Blair Horan warned that outsourcing clerical processing “is a red line”.
The CPSU is the largest union representing lower-paid clerical-grade civil servants. “We don’t have a problem discussing issues of redeployment and cost savings,” Mr Horan said. “We can negotiate on those, but outsourcing of payroll processing is a red line. We won’t accept it.”
Public Service Executive Union general secretary Tom Geraghty said the report strayed outside its remit in making recommendations on pay and pensions cuts.
