In this issue
Are you a social care worker?
Talks set to get going
Workers demand pay restoration equity
More lip service on gender equality
Under-funded councils face complex world
Templemore: IMPACT backs civilian roles
Workers demand pay restoration equity
by Bernard Harbor
 
Peter Nolan, national secretary.
Peter Nolan, national secretary.

IMPACT has warned against special deals for particular groups of public servants, and said that an extension to the Lansdowne Road agreement must have substance to win the support of union members. Speaking at the union’s Local Government Division conference in Letterkenny last week, national secretary Peter Nolan said workers would not back a deal that only “gives with one hand and takes away with another."

Peter also reiterated the union’s stance that lower paid staff must benefit from any pay increases too. This includes those on incomes below €28,750, who are no longer subject to FEMPI measures.

“Public servants were all dragged into FEMPI together and we expect and deserve to get out of it together. The Government and its negotiators must resist the temptation to interpret the responsible majority of public servants, who abide by agreements and negotiate in good faith, as indifferent or weak,” he warned.

Peter said a large number of public service groups and professions “including many that earn far less than those who routinely grab the headlines” could make a rational case for special treatment. “If special favours are conceded to any group in the forthcoming talks, other claims will certainly emerge,” he said.

Responding to Government indications that there was little money available for pay restoration, particularly in 2018, Peter said workers’ expectations were realistic, but a talks outcome that lacked substance would not be accepted in union ballots.

“We know there are competing demands on the public purse. We know any agreement has to be sustainable. But it must also have substance if it is to win the support of those who make their living by serving the public. We won’t accept an outcome that only gives with one hand and takes away with the other,” he said.

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