Paid-up Fórsa members working in the civil and public service, and in non-commercial State agencies, will receive details of the voting arrangements in a ballot for a proposed new public service agreement next week.

If accepted, the proposed new public service agreement, Building Momentum, would run from January 2021 to December 2022. It allows for two pay increases, each worth 1% of annual salary or €500 a year, whichever is the greater.

Many public service employers are flouting official Government restrictions on workplace attendance under level five of Covid restrictions, according to Fórsa.

The HSE has been urged to immediately start recruiting temporary administrative staff to support the mass roll-out of Covid-19 vaccinations from the end of this month.

Fórsa and other health unions have called for school places to be made available to essential health workers as soon as it can be done safely.

Civil and public servants whose working time was increased under the 2013 Haddington Road agreement (HRA) will see a reduction in their hours next year if the proposed new public service agreement is accepted in ballots of union members.

A revised re-deployment policy, covering the HSE, voluntary hospitals and other ‘section 38’ agencies, has been agreed with Fórsa and other unions.