New deal must deliver no-strings cost-of-living pay increase
Unite, which organises workers across the public sector and is a member of the ICTU Public Services Committee, said today (Monday) that a meeting of the union’s reps in the public sector has agreed to suspend Wednesday’s strike action.
Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said:
Inflation-beating pay rise must be front and centre of any new public sector deal
Private sector workers must also organise to defend living standards
Trade union Unite, which represents public sector workers in a range of workplaces, has said that today’s strong and united picket lines demonstrate the determination of workers to defend their living standards going forward.
Speaking from the picket line at Trinity College Dublin, the union’s Irish Secretary Susan Fitzgerald warned the government against attempting to short-change workers in any talks on a new public sector deal:
Strike reflects workers’ frustrations at cost-of-living pressures and broken promises
Government must gain workers’ trust
As Unite members in the public sector prepare to take to the picket lines across the country tomorrow, the union said that the strike reflects workers’ frustration at cost-of-living pressures and the government’s failure to honour previous commitments. Unite also panned today’s government statement which the union said once again failed to address workers’ demands.
Minister’s eleventh-hour letter “written with eye to media rather than eye to workers”
Government inaction forcing workers onto picket lines
Unite, which represents public sector workers across Ireland, today held a meeting of the union’s National Dispute Committee to finalise plans for Wednesday’s national strike. The dispute committee comprises Unite shop stewards from across the public sector.
Unite public sector members in a range of workplaces – including local authority personnel, college lecturers, ambulance workers, hospital support staff and many more – will be among the hundreds of thousands of workers taking strike action.
Members are also preparing for a further stoppage on 21 October if the government does not make unions an inflation-beating pay offer. The public services committee of the ICTU, to which Unite is affiliated, is clear that this afternoon’s letter from minister Jack Chambers does not provide a basis for Wednesday’s action to be postponed.
Move highlights need for collective bargaining legislation
Unite, which represents workers throughout the economy, today (Wednesday) blasted the government’s decision to scrap plans for a statutory ‘living wage’ to replace the current national minimum wage. The introduction of a new ‘living wage’ equating to 60 per cent of median earnings was originally scheduled for 2026. The timeline was then pushed out to 2029. (See notes for editors regarding low pay definitions.)
Today, in a statement published on the Department of Enterprise website, the government abandoned its living wage timeline altogether.
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