Some 1,700 local public and civil servants begin work to rule today

Some 1,700 members of the Fórsa trade union in Offaly will commence work-to-rule action today (Wednesday) across the civil and public service, as part of an escalating dispute over public service pay and the cost of living.

More than 90,000 public service members will take part in the Fórsa action, as preparations for industrial action by Fórsa and other unions continue, including a planned public sector-wide strike on October 14.

From today, Fórsa members working across local and municipal authorities, health and welfare services, education, Government departments and State agencies will be taking industrial action. Members will work strictly to contract, withdraw cooperation with new work practices and refuse to undertake duties outside their grade or agreed responsibilities.

The Fórsa action is part of a wider coordinated response by the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU). Nineteen affiliated unions are now moving towards industrial action in the coming days.

Fórsa general secretary, and chair of ICTU’s Public Services Committee, Kevin Callinan, commented: “The last public service pay agreement expired at the end of June. Attempts to engage on a successor agreement came to nothing because of the Government’s steadfast refusal to address cost-of-living pressures at the outset.

“That refusal has made this industrial action inevitable. Our members have been clear that their living standards must be protected, and the absence of any credible engagement on this issue has led directly to this industrial action.

“The Minister for Public Expenditure has variously described union ballots as ‘unnecessary’ and any industrial action as ‘unfair’, but it is the Minister’s own refusal to discuss pay measures that has made industrial action unavoidable,” he said.

Mr Callinan also pointed to the continued presence of Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest (FEMPI) legislation on the statute books, despite repeated commitments to its repeal: “FEMPI was introduced in a matter of days during the financial crisis, yet more than a decade and a half later it remains in place, despite clear agreements that it would be repealed.

“Unions continue to push for this legislation to be fully unwound, but we have been stonewalled in that effort. Previous commitments to unwind FEMPI have not been honoured. It sends a clear signal that Government has difficulty following through on its own agreements, which does not inspire confidence in negotiations on a new pay deal,” he said.