Fórsa has said it may have no alternative but to collapse the General council’s conciliation and arbitration system if DPER continues its current impasse and doesn’t respond to the union’s dispute resolution document at next week’s meeting. 

The union has consistently highlighted the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform’s (DPER) negligence to engage with the scheme, which is the main industrial relations mechanism for civil servants, on several occasions.

Fórsa previously said civil servants were being denied access to the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) for almost all workplace issues, with the only exceptions being for equality-based grievances. “It is an exclusion unique to the Civil Service,” the union said. 

The union has maintained its intentions to collapse the scheme unless urgent progress was made on implementing the 2015 Industrial Relations Act, which would provide access to the WRC.

Éamonn Donnelly, who leads the union’s civil service division, said although the general council protocol is that a response must issue within two sittings of general council (two months), no response has been received on the internal dispute resolution procedure despite it having been tabled in September last. 

Fórsa said this delay triggered the union’s notification of intention to collapse the General Council. 

“There is a reason these protocols are in place, and DPER’s often delayed -or complete lack- of responses show absolute disregard for the system,” Éamonn added.

Fórsa is set to meet management again next week and if there is no response still. The union said it may have no alternative but to collapse the current arbitration system, which is completely outdated and stacked heavily in favour of the employer. 

Éamonn said the only alternative that would remain then would be to seek bilateral meetings “for every single issue” across the civil service.

Fórsa said it also complied with DPER’s request to provide an indexation of all the industrial relations issues stuck in place due to the impasse. 

“We promptly prepared the extensive list of issues caught in the system and not responded to, and it was done on the condition that DPER would sit down with us and go through those,” said Éamonn.

But he warned that this step was “not done to preserve the longevity of the General Council. It is quite the contrary,” he added. 

“Our only interest is in moving issues that are stuck, but let me reiterate that we are intent on gaining proper access to the WRC for the workers we represent,” said Éamonn. 

Fórsa is pushing for a timely response from DPER to the dispute resolution document, and has also called for this mechanism to be built into the system, so civil service workers across the country can have proper access to the WRC. 

It says the biggest flaw in the system that needs to be addressed immediately is the lack of a response time. This means a matter can be referred to arbitration, but the arbitration board has no powers to facilitate a hearing until DPER decides to respond.