Offaly takes part in biggest strike in many years
By Rebekah O'Reilly
On Wednesday, public sector workers in Offaly joined in what's been described as the largest mobilisation of public sector workers in a generation. Trade unions including FÓRSA, SIPTU, Unite, INMO, Teachers' Union of Ireland, INTO, and the Association of Secondary Teachers, Ireland (ASTI) joined forces on picket lines throughout the county and across the country.
Union members working in hospitals, ambulance services, schools, universities, fire services and State agencies took part in the nationwide public service stoppage as part of efforts to secure a new pay deal to tackle inflation and the rising cost of living. The previous public sector pay deal expired on June 30 this year.
A second day of strike action is scheduled for Wednesday next, October 21, and will lead to a further impact on State-delivered services unless a resolution to the dispute is found before then.
Speaking to the Offaly Independent at the HSE National Distribution Centre in Tullamore on Wednesday, SIPTU member Jack Deveraux said people had "lost that sense of trust" in the Government.
"We want to be working. Everybody loses out on a days pay, and it is inconvenient for working parents when the schools are closed," he said.
"We want the Government to get back to talks and negotiations. The pay deal has been expired since June, so I think this action will continue."
FÓRSA Offaly Branch member Aisling Carey, who also joined FÓRSA and SIPTU members at the HSE National Distribution Centre in Tullamore, said Government are "not meeting the people's needs".
"They are not meeting the workers' needs by coming into pay talks and agreeing to give us a pay rise that would meet the cost of living. It's outrageous."
Speaking from the picket line at Midlands Regional Hospital, Tullamore, SIPTU Industrial Official for the Midlands, Graham Macken, said this has been "the worst year people have experienced" in terms of cost of living pressures.
"This is not something we wanted to do, and it's not action we're taking lightly. It's to show the Government that we're not willing to accept the fact that they haven't entered into meaningful discussions.
"It was very clear that the existing public sector pay agreement was finishing on June 30, which meant the new agreement was due to begin from July 1.
"Even if it took a number of months to negotiate an outcome that was acceptable to bring to our members for their vote, that [should] be backdated to July 1.
"It's very clear the Government strategy was to break the agreement at the end of June so that they could talk about issues for 2027."
Speaking in Brussels yesterday (Thursday), Taoiseach Micheál Martin said it was important for both sides in the pay dispute to get into negotiations, and that he believed there was a negotiated pathway to a resolution.
"We want the national pay frame. We have provided substantial funding for that. We want negotiations to commence in respect of that," Mr Martin told reporters.
"Previous agreements were over two and a half years, three years in the past. There's a framework there that we can create.
"I think the most important thing now is for both sides to get into the negotiating process."