Further positive engagement on a job evaluation scheme for local authority workers took place at the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) earlier this week, when Fórsa and the Local Government Management Agency (LGMA) met. 

Head of the union’s local government and local services division Richy Carrothers said: “We are pleased with the recent progress that has been made. There appears to be a willingness to resolve this issue, which has momentum now. There’s a lot more to do but we are on the right path. It is incumbent on the parties to honour the Public Service Agreement in scoping out a job evaluation scheme for the local government sector” 

The process has now adjourned so that information gathering can continue, and to enable the parties to continue their work on a scoping process to find the most appropriate form of job evaluation scheme for the sector. 

Richy added: “Fórsa will continue to pursue a job evaluation scheme that is fair, open, transparent and fit for purpose. Conciliation talks will resume in early May. We want to get this done now, because our members have been waiting far too long for a fair job evaluation scheme. People deserve to be paid for the work they actually do.” 

Close to 10,000 jobs were lost from the sector following the financial crisis in 2008, and services were only maintained because local authority workers countrywide took on additional responsibilities above their pay grades.  

Following successful industrial action and intensive engagement in the WRC, Fórsa and the LGMA had agreed to pause negotiations to establish a job evaluation scheme for the sector last September, pending the national pay talks. The Public Service Agreement 2024-2026, which came into effect earlier this year, made provisions for re-engagement to progress this matter further, and in May, Fórsa wrote to the WRC triggering this clause. Engagement took place in late 2024 and has continued during the early months of 2025.

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