Trade unions have formally ratified acceptance of the new public sector pay deal.
The Public Service Committee of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU) met to consider the aggregate results of recent ballots of trade union members and will now formally notify the Government and the Workplace Relations Commission that the pay deal has been accepted.
Yesterday, Fórsa, SIPTU, the ASTI and Connect became the latest unions to announce that their members had voted in favour of the agreement.
In August, the Government reached agreement with unions and staff associations on a set of proposals that will see public sector workers receive a 6.5% pay increase over two years.
The deal will deliver increases of 3% backdated from 2 February 2022, 2% from 1 March 2023 and 1.5% or €750, whichever is the greater, from 1 October 2023.
This would come on top of a 2% increase already included in the existing public sector pay agreement, called Building Momentum.
ICTU President Kevin Callinan said the strong showing in favour of the pay deal reflects a recognition by workers that these pay measures will be a helpful support to people at a critical time.
"Unions do expect to be back in negotiations next year to secure pay terms beyond the lifetime of the current agreement, which will expire at the end of 2023, and unions will of course continue to closely monitor living costs and income pressures," Mr Callinan said.
All of the affiliated unions taking part in the ballot voted in favour of the proposals.
We need your consent to load this rte-player contentWe use rte-player to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content.Manage Preferences
The voting strength of each union is determined by the number of members it has in the civil and public service, and the overall result is calculated through a weighted aggregate of the outcomes of all the union ballots.
Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform Michael McGrath said he welcomed the ratification of the deal, which he described as a fair and affordable one for the State and for public servants.
"For up to 400,000 public servants and 200,000 public service pensioners, it provides significant benefits and will help to ease some of pressure from the inflation being experienced at this time," Mr McGrath said.
"It also provides certainty about the continued provision of public services and secures very valuable industrial peace at a time of such uncertainty globally," he added.
