Kevin advised that if members haven’t received their voting code, they should contact the ballot helpdesk, where staff are on hand to assist.
Pay deal ballot: final days to cast your vote
Thousands more Fórsa members have been voting on the terms of the new pay deal proposals, with continuing reports of a strong turnout in the digital ballot.
Those members eligible to vote in the ballot, and who haven’t voted yet, are now strongly encouraged to do so in the final week of voting. The ballot closes on Thursday 6th October.
Fórsa’s deputy general secretary Matt Staunton said close to 10,000 Fórsa members had cast their votes this week alone and had their say on the revised pay terms in the Building Momentum Agreement.
“Overall, more than 35,000 votes have been cast so far and thousands of workers have joined the union to get their chance to vote. It takes less than a minute to cast your vote, and we are now in the final days of balloting,” he said.
Matt advised Fórsa members who haven’t yet voted to check their email inbox for their ‘UVC’ (unique voter code), and to check junk and spam folders just in case.
He added: “Thousands of members have contacted me to tell me they’ve played their part in this huge mobilisation. Every contribution is important, because the more votes cast, the stronger the union’s collective position will be.
“Even if you’ve already voted, you can still play a part, perhaps you could ask your co-workers if they’ve voted or, if they’re not in membership, ask them to join Fórsa. We have had significant numbers of new members joining during the balloting period,” he said.
The pay proposals would see increases of 3% with effect from 2nd February 2022, 2% from 1st March 2023 and 1.5% or €750 (whichever is the greater) from 1st October 2023.
This is in addition to 1% or €500, whichever is greater, which due at the beginning of October 2022 under the existing Building Momentum agreement.
The minimum payment of €750 a year from next October means the package would be worth 8% to a worker earning €25,000 a year and 7% to a person on €37,500 a year.
Have your say
In a video message (below) to Fórsa members, general secretary Kevin Callinan, who led the union side in the pay talks, encouraged members to cast their vote: “This is a really important ballot on the review of Building Momentum. I really want you to cast your vote and have your say. Don’t leave it to others.”
Kevin advised that if members haven’t received their voting code, they should contact the ballot helpdesk, where staff are on hand to assist.
Fórsa’s elected national executive has voted overwhelmingly to recommend the public service pay package, which was negotiated at the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) following the review of the Building Momentum public service agreement.
The digital ballot of Fórsa members will remain open until next Thursday (6th October).
The union has produced this ‘frequently asked questions’ document, which includes a facility for members to ask questions, which you can access HERE.
For a video tutorial on how to cast your vote click HERE.