Bulk of public servants would switch vote to parties pledging inflation-plus rises

Nearly two thirds of public service staff are prepared to switch their vote to parties they have not previously supported if they pledge to offer pay increases above the level of inflation, a new poll suggests.

The poll also found that 79 per cent of public servants said they would back parties they had not previously voted for if they gave a commitment to support a four-day week, or other mechanisms to reduce working time, without loss of pay or productivity .

The survey of over 7,000 public servants found that substantial majorities were prepared to vote for parties they haven’t previously supported depending on their policies on pay, healthcare, housing, childcare, and the four-day week.

The poll, conducted by Amárach Research for the trade union Fórsa between Thursday 23rd and Tuesday 28th January, found that 88 per cent of public servants said public service pay policy was either an important or a very important factor in determining how they would vote in the general election on 8th February.

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Consider

Almost two-thirds (63 per cent) said they would consider voting for parties they hadn’t voted for in the past if they pledged inflation-plus pay increases, while only 9 percent said they would not consider doing so. More than half (53 per cent) said they would refuse to vote for parties that didn’t pledge to do so.

The union maintained said that “a whopping 94 per cent said it was unacceptable that higher-paid public servants are having their pay fully restored to pre-crisis levels, while those on lower incomes are still working extra unpaid hours introduced during the recession”.

It said over two-thirds (68 per cent ) said this could influence their vote on Saturday week, while only 15 per cent said the issue would not influence their choice of candidate.

Fórsa general secretary Kevin Callinan said the survey was the first significant attempt to identify the factors that will determine how Ireland's 300,000 public servants will vote in a general election.

"There are four stand-out messages from our survey. First, public servants care most about the same issues – particularly housing, health, living costs, and childcare – as the rest of Ireland. Second, public service pay is definitely an issue for a significant proportion of the electorate. Third, public servants are prepared to change their voting behaviour on the basis of party positions on the issues they care most about. And fourth, public servants will turn up to vote on Saturday week," he said.

Participate

Fórsa said that 99 per cent of the 7,148 members of the union who participated in the online survey said they intended to vote in the general election, although t 27 per cent remained undecided about who would get their support.

“Just 4 per cent of respondents identified tax as the single biggest issue in the election, way behind health [22 per cent], housing and homelessness [18 per cent ], wages and salaries [17 per cent], the cost of living [ 12 per cent], and climate change [ 7 per cent ].

Fórsa represents 80,000 staff in hundreds of different occupations and grades across the Irish public service including Civil Service departments and offices; the HSE and voluntary hospitals; schools, colleges and other education settings; local authorities; the community and voluntary sector; and non-commercial semi-state bodies. Its members in private companies and commercial semi-state bodies were not polled.