Forsa says there must be ‘movement’ from Government to resume public pay talks

A union representing tens of thousands of public sector workers has said there needs to be “movement” from the Government side on a “credible” pay offer to get public pay talks back on track.

Forsa, which represents 82,000 mostly public sector workers, is widely expected to endorse a planned Irish Congress of Trade Unions (Ictu) campaign that includes the prospect of industrial action in the autumn.

The campaign, which was backed by the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) on Tuesday, is aimed at putting pressure on the Government to respond to the cost-of-living crisis amid the stalled public sector pay talks.

Ictu’s Public Sector Committee is to meet on Wednesday to discuss its plans.

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Siptu, with some 60,000 public service members, said on Monday it would start a consultation exercise in advance of ballots for industrial action over what it argues is the failure of the Government to conclude an acceptable review of the existing Building Momentum Public Service Agreement.

A Government pay offer of a combined 5 per cent over two years on top of the 2 per cent in the existing deal was rejected by unions in June as “not credible”.

Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform Michael McGrath said on Tuesday that the Government was willing to return to talks with public service unions but there was “a need for flexibility on both sides”.

He told RTÉ Radio that public servants deserved a pay rise while also saying that what the Government previously tabled was a “good offer” amounting to a 7 per cent increase across two years.

Mr McGrath said: “We will be as flexible as we possibly can and there is a willingness on the part of Government to improve the offer that is there.”

He said flexibility was required from the union side as well and the Government would be guided by the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) “as to when they believe the conditions are right to re-enter those discussions hopefully to reach an agreement”.

A Forsa spokesman responded to Mr McGrath’s comments saying that there was “no point” in a ballot of its members on a pay deal unless the pay offer was “credible”.

He said: “There needs to be movement from the Government.”

The INMO, which represents 42,000 nurses and midwives, is to start a public information campaign among its members “about the current state of pay talks and their options going forward”.

INMO general secretary Phil Ní Sheaghdha said this would be done after the Ictu Public Sector Committee meets “with a view to participate in this public service campaign up to and including industrial action if necessary”.

She said a report by the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) into public workforce requirements in acute hospitals recommends an additional 8,868 nurses and midwives in the next 13 years.

“The Government needs to take recruitment and retention measures seriously, [and] that includes ensuring an attractive remuneration package for nurses and midwives,” Ms Ní Sheaghdha said.

“The public sector carried this country through an incredibly bleak and uncertain pandemic” and the “Government’s response to this reality must reflect the impact the cost of living increases are having on the retention of essential staff”, she added.