SIPTU acknowledges invitation to public sector pay talks
SIPTU has acknowledged the invitation by Minister for Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform, Paschal Donohoe, to enter negotiations with the Government on the potential for a new public service pay agreement under the auspices of the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC).
The union has said that the officers of the Public Services Committee of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU) would meet within the next 24 hours to discuss the terms of the invitation.
John King, SIPTU Deputy General Secretary, said: “We have received the Minister’s invitation, and the Public Services Committee officers will meet within the next day to give consideration to his request.
“The officers will have to be satisfied that the invitation to talks provides a basis upon which an agreement could possibly be reached.”
The current public sector pay deal, Building Momentum, is due to expire at the end of the year. At SIPTU’s Biennial Delegate Conference (BDC) in Galway today, King laid out the union’s key priorities for any future talks based on a consultation of SIPTU members.
“Our members value their Public Service Agreement,” King said, “they want to be covered by a collective agreement, but not at any price.
“They want a return to normalised industrial relations across the public service and pay increases which ensure that the value of their pay is not eroded by inflation.
He also said that members would want to maintain the protective clauses in the Public Service Agreement against any form of outsourcing and secure clauses around service delivery which “grow and develop public service jobs and employment opportunities.”
In addition, King said, SIPTU members would want “a process where they can progress their grade-related issues.”
“Over the coming years we will continue to campaign and battle for better and improved public service provision for all our citizens,” King concluded, “delivered by directly employed public sector workers on fair pay that recognises their contribution.”