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The government has proposed that public service personnel could be included to work for an extended week, including weekends, as part of a new blanket agreement on compensation for state employees.
Proposals put forward by the Department of Public Expenditure in recent days also suggest that there should be “maximum flexible service delivery options,” which some groups believe could lead to further outsourcing of services.
Proposals from the Department of Public Expenditure – which were proposed as modernization reforms – in current public service payment negotiations, argue that employees must be available for a full week “to provide better services to the public” and that this could include Saturday and Sunday. .
Union sources have indicated that proposals such as the five to seven day classification, extended days or any subcontracting would not be accepted as part of any final agreement.
The unions, as part of a new agreement, are seeking what they describe as an “acceptable” salary reward, as well as the repeal of the requirement that staff work additional unpaid hours, which were first introduced under the Haddington agreement. Road in 2013.
Talks about a new public service agreement are understood to face significant difficulties after the unions learned that the proposals made by the government in the talks had also been shared with other staff associations outside the Congress of Trade Unions of Ireland (Ictu).
Other unions
A core group of negotiators representing the Public Service Committee of the Irish Trade Union Congress had been in discussions with the Department of Public Expenditure for the past week about the outline of a possible new deal. It was understood that the details of the Government’s parallel proposals had not been distributed to other unions.
However, after the strong representation of non-Ictu organizations representing gardaí, military personnel, hospital consultants, and psychiatric nurses and dentists in recent days, it is understood that these bodies have received copies of the Government’s proposals.
Union sources said Wednesday that by circulating what they described as “early proposals,” the Department of Public Expenditure had created difficulties for the entire process of talks.
A full Ictu Public Service Committee meeting is expected to consider the issue on Thursday.
The Department of Public Expenditure said Wednesday that it did not intend to comment on the details related to its discussions with public service organizations about a possible new agreement, “which are confidential to the parties.”
Negotiating bodies
The Government’s proposals involve new sectoral negotiation bodies, which would aim to address all pending claims and awards involving particular groups of State employees. A specified amount of money would be allocated to address these issues and these sectoral processes would begin in February or March and operate in the first half of the year according to the proposals.
There would also be a dispute resolution mechanism that would involve a new set of public service agreements with an independent president.
It is understood that a full amount of money has not yet been submitted for sectoral negotiations or general awards.
It is understood that the government wants a pay break for staff for much or all of next year as part of a deal that lasts between 24 and 30 months.
It also seeks to maintain many of the labor flexibilities introduced as emergency measures to deal with the Covid-19 pandemic.
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