Unions angry over public pay cuts

Unions have reacted angrily to what they described as "an unjust and uncaring Budget."

President of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (Ictu) Jack O'Connor said yesterday it ranked as "the most callous" budget introduced by any Minister for Finance since the 1930s.

Mr O'Connor said the Budget represented a "merciless attack on working people and on the most vulnerable in our community."

“The sheer cynicism of this budget and the thinking behind it is evident in the reduction in unemployment assistance to people under 24 years of age. This is clearly designed to encourage our young people to leave the country," he said.

“We are once again exporting a generation of our youth – our hope for the future – while other countries are doing their best to keep them at home through employment protection, training and back to education schemes.

Congress general secretary David Begg said Budget 2010 was marked by a “criminal neglect of any serious initiative on jobs and job protection.’

He claimed it would guarantee more job losses and ensure that emigration would once again become a major feature of Irish society.

“I think they have pushed us closer to the cliff and once we go over there is only one direction we can go. Far from the worst being over, it is almost certain that the worst is yet to come,” he said.

Mandate, which represents over 45,000 workers in the retail and bar sectors, said Budget 2010 represented an "unfair burden" on low income families.

“The Minister appears to be under the impression that there is an abundance of jobs out there for young people. The fact of the matter is, there are very few opportunities of employment for these people, and in fact, people with little or no experience generally find it harder to find employment," said Mandate general secretary John Douglas.

Unite described the Budget as "a savage attack" on the most vulnerable members of society and said it would deepen and lengthen the recession in Ireland

Unsurprisingly public sector unions were particularly angry over measures introduced in theBudget that will see the public sector pay bill being reduced by €1 billion.

Speaking in the Dáil this afternoon Minister for Finance Brian Lenihan announced cuts ranging from 5 per cent for those on average pay to 15 per cent for those at the most senior level.

Impact general secretary Peter McLoone, who also chairs the Ictu public services committee, said the entire public sector workforce had been alienated by the Government’s actions.

“By opting for a permanent pay cut the Government’s knee-jerk reaction – driven by short-term political expediency – has left Ireland and its citizens with absolutely no plan or framework to protect and develop public services during the recession and beyond,” he added.

The union also denounced the announcement that the Government intends to break the link between public service pay and pensions.

“The Government’s decision to walk away from social partnership last week has been cemented by today’s announcement - without any dialogue, let alone negotiation - that tens of thousands of people are to have their future pension entitlements cut. All existing and former public servants must now mobilise to protect their incomes,” said Mr McLoone.

Elsewhere, the Association of Higher Civil and Public Servants (AHCPS) has described the decision to introduce a pay cut of up to 7.9 per cent on senior civil servants “as a brutal and grossly unfair reduction in the pay of individuals who work hard on behalf of the State”.

"In the last 12 months my members have had to endure pay cuts of up to 17 per cent through the introduction of income and pension levies. On top of this, they must now endure a further cut of between 6.3 per cent and 7.9 per cent,” said AHCPS general secretary Dave Thomas.

"A single person in the private sector earning a similar salary will have had no change to their net income as a result of this Budget. This is blatantly unfair and proves that the Government has chosen to selectively penalise public sector workers,” he added.

Civil Public and Services Union (CPSU) head Blair Horan said the introduction of pay cuts and changes to public sector pensions "invites industrial conflict".

Separately, the Association of Secondary Teachers Ireland (ASTI) said the pay cuts and changes to the pension scheme would have a damaging effect on public services.

“Budget 2010 indicates that the Government believes quality public services are not important to ordinary members of the public including parents, children and young people, pensioners, and workers,” said ASTI general secretary John White.

The Teachers Union of Ireland (TUI), which represents 15,000 members in second level schools, further education colleges and Institutes of Technology, described the Budget as "a declaration of war on public service."

"The Government appears hell-bent on demoralising state workers by way of a thousand cuts while ignoring glaringly obvious alternatives such as progressive taxation models, said TUI general secretary Peter MacMenamin.

The Prison Officers’ Association said it was "appalled" at the cuts, which general secretary John Clinton described as "a further penalty on those who had no hand act or part in creating the current economic problems."

The Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors (AGSI) estimated the pay cuts would leave its members on average €170 a week poorer.

"It is totally disgraceful to treat dedicated public servants, who do a difficult and sometimes dangerous job, in this callous way,said AGSI general secretary Joe Dirwan.

"We cannot rebuild our economy on the basis of a race to the bottom," he added.