Fórsa union urges members to accept pay proposal worth up to 8pc to lower paid public servants

Fórsa will ballot its workers next week, and voting will conclude in early October.

The package would be worth 8pc to a worker earning €25,000 a year and 7pc to a person on €37,500 a year. The pay proposals would see increases of 3pc with effect from February 2, 2022; 2pc from March 1, 2023; and 1.5pc or €750 (whichever is the greater) from October 1, 2023. This is in addition to 1pc or €500, due at the beginning of October 2022.

Fórsa general secretary Kevin Callinan said his executive accepted that the deal was the “best that could currently be achieved through negotiations”.

“We’ll now be explaining this package to Fórsa members, who will decide the union’s position when a final decision is taken next month. The Fórsa executive considered the details of the package and had a constructive debate, which strongly acknowledged the financial realities facing working people across the economy – and their fears for the future,” he said.

“While neither side achieved all it sought in the negotiations, this package is a significant improvement on the pay terms of Building Momentum. And it is worth more to those who need it most.”

“Today’s discussion by Fórsa’s elected leadership underpinned the fact that workers expect the Government to honour its promise to supplement pay measures with robust cost-of-living supports in the forthcoming Budget, and through the Labour-Employer Economic Forum (LEEF) process. A failure to do so is likely to affect the decisions that Fórsa members make in this ballot,” Mr Callinan said.