Public Service Committee of ICTU vote to approve Lansdowne Road Agreement

The Public Services Committee (PSC) of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU) has voted to approve the Lansdowne Road Agreement.

The deal was approved by an aggregate ballot of the PSC at a meeting on Wednesday 16th September 2015

The Lansdowne Road Agreement extends the main provisions of the Haddington Road Agreement until September 2018, and restores around €2,000 to the pay of most public servants in three phases between January 2016 and September 2017. The pay restoration will be achieved through a combination of adjustments to the public service pension levy and a partial reversal of the 2010 public service pay cuts.

Speaking to SIPTUhealth.ie Divisional Organiser Paul Bell said: “One of the main reasons SIPTU enjoyed a successful campaign and ballot supporting the Lansdowne Road Agreement is that our members had the opportunity to frame our agenda. Our members demanded job security and pay recovery. We have achieved those objectives and now move forward stronger and better together.

Throughout our consultation meetings around the country we made it clear the Lansdowne Road Agreement is the first step on the journey to repair the damage inflicted on our public health service and workers since the crash. Our members now have protection from outsourcing, a modest increase in their take home pay, our intern members working in the health service the opportunity of a permanent job and our nurses and midwives a freeze in professional fees.”

Bell said that the next step for SIPTU Health is to continue the conversation with shop stewards to organise the membership in demanding a fully resourced public health service that the Irish people deserve and can be proud of.

Individual unions balloted their members on the terms of the agreement through the summer months. The agreement was endorsed by members of the Irish Nurses & Midwives Organisation (INMO), SIPTU, the Irish National Teachers Organisation (INTO), MLSA, TEEU and IMPACT. In recent days the Civil and Public Services Union (CPSU) and the Irish Federation of University Teachers (IFUT) also voted to approve the deal.

Shay Cody, General Secretary of IMPACT and chair of the PSC, said that the Lansdowne Road Agreement marked a significant step forward for workers after seven years of pay cuts, and reflected a growing trend for wage improvements across many sectors of the economy since 2014.

“Workers in the public and private sectors have faced huge challenges during the economic crisis. Pay improvements across all sectors are a crucial element of the country’s continuing economic recovery. More money in workers’ hands will largely be spent in the local economy, improving living standards and, most importantly, contributing to the job growth which has now developed,” he said.

To watch Paul Bell, Divisional Organiser speak on the Lansdowne Road Agreement click here