Contacts between unions and officials from the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform (DPER) will continue over the coming weeks with a view to cracking the practical issues involved in shortening pay scales for staff who joined the civil and public service after 2010.

Library staff are to vote on Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) recommendations on agreed staffing levels and staffless libraries. Fórsa’s Local Government Division is recommending acceptance of the draft agreement, which heralds a review of staffing levels in each local library authority, followed by discussions on staffing requirements based on 2012 levels.

Fórsa's Local Government divisional executive will decide next steps next week after local authority staff backed industrial action over management’s use of online psychometric tests without prior agreement. A ballot of members in the division resulted in a 74%-26% endorsement of action.

Dublin City Council management has agreed to reinstate one-hour’s double time for overseers, who supervised road maintenance crews when working weekends. Fórsa raised the issue last month after a member has tried and failed to solve it since late 2015.

Fórsa has said it fully supports plans for a full and thorough inquiry into Ireland’s cervical cancer screening programme, and has called on the Government to ensure that due process is followed when seeking accountability for errors in the service and communications with the women affected.

Shift workers, especially those who work nights, are at higher risk of suffering workplace injuries, according to new research conducted by the Economic and Social Research Institute and the Health and Safety Authority.

In this episode we update you on the progress being made on new entrants pay, fill you in on the launch of Fórsa's small grants fund and more. Presented by Hazel Gavigan and Róisín McKane.