Unite to reject ‘completely insufficient’ public pay deal

Unite has become the latest organisation to recommend rejection of the proposed new public sector pay deal between unions and the Government.

Speaking on Monday, Unite regional co-ordinating officer Richie Browne said his union, which represents some 6,000 public sector workers in the Republic of Ireland, cannot give its backing to a deal which he termed "completely insufficient".

“For the past number of years, public sector workers who provide the services on which we all rely on have paid for a crisis not of their making,” said Mr Browne, whose organisation has members across the health, education and local government sectors.

“In that context, following consultation with our members in workplaces throughout the country, Unite’s public sector representatives have concluded that the Lansdowne Road proposals negotiated at the end of May are completely insufficient to compensate our members for the losses suffered since 2009,” he added.

Known as the Lansdowne Road Agreement, the public service pay deal is intended to act as a follow-on to the Haddington Road Agreement which is due to expire in 2018.

Following a series of intense negotiations between trade union representatives and officials from the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, a compromise was reached on May 30th which could see many low-paid public servants receive a graduated €2,000 pay increase in the coming years.

Despite assurances over general pay restorations, opposition has emerged over the last two months with teacher unions TUI and ASTI recommending their members reject the new proposals during ballots to be held later this year.

Other bodies including the Association of Higher Public Servants have also voiced their dissatisfaction over the revised pay conditions.

Unite will hold a ballot on the proposals between August 17th and September 11th.

Many other unions have already accepted the agreement, with workers from Impact, INTO and Siptu – Ireland's largest trade union – all voting in favour of the proposals during separate ballots.

Many of the Lansdowne Road Agreement’s detractors have cited an inadequate scale of pay restoration as the main stumbling block following years of cutbacks as dictated by the harsh economic climate.