The country's biggest public service union, IMPACT, has called for an acceleration of the pace of pay restoration, following the cuts to worker's salaries and conditions imposed since 2009.
At its biennial delegate conference in Killarney, the union's General Secretary Shay Cody also cautioned against special pay rises for selected groups, warning that these would lead to industrial unrest.
The unions 56,000-strong membership is drawn from the public service, as well as the commercial, voluntary and private sectors.
Mr Cody called for an acceleration of the pace of pay restoration.
The union's Deputy General Secretary Kevin Callinan said his members had been forced to share the bitter burden of the economic collapse, and it was now time for the same workers to share the fruits of recovery.
However, the response from Government has been swift and clear, with Minister for Public Expenditure Paschal Donohoe saying the Lansdowne Road Agreement is "the only game in town", and there is no flexibility for going outside it.
The General Secretary of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions', Patricia King, addressed the conference this afternoon.
She said the Public Service Pay Commission, proposed by the Government, cannot interfere with the collective bargaining process.
