Dear members,

Today is UN Public Services Day. Each year this day provides an opportunity for us to celebrate the workers who provide vital public services, here in Ireland and all around the world. It is also an opportunity to highlight the concerns of our members working in public service roles.

At the end of this month the current Public Service Agreement expires. Last week, following initial engagement with Government I informed affiliate unions that there is currently no basis for formal talks on a successor agreement. Read more about that here.

At the weekend, I joined Cormac Ó’hEadhra on RTÉ Radio 1 to talk about some of the issues and the need for a pay deal that gives people A Better Deal. 

You can listen to that interview here: National Wage Agreement: Industrial unrest mounts ahead of the expiry of the current agreement | Saturday with Cormac Ó hEadhra - RTÉ Radio 1

Our members working in the public service do vital work that deserves respect. From those of you who keep our city streets clean, to special needs assistants, school secretaries and caretakers, hospital administrative staff, health and social care workers, local authority workers, rescue services, civil servants, and many more, we in Fórsa are proud to represent you.

Please enjoy this video that we commissioned for UN Public Services Day last year:

Without your work, people living in Ireland wouldn’t be able to access care, infrastructure, education, and support, sometimes at the most vulnerable times in their lives, If the Government refuses to begin talks on a successor agreement empty words about the importance of public services mean little. We will continue to update on this issue as development arise. 

Yours sincerely,

Kevin Callinan
Fórsa General Secretary