Health and Safety, Outsourcing, Ireland

Fórsa, SIPTU, INMO, AHCPS and other public service unions are consulting their members over the latest pay offer from the government which would provide for a series of pay increases over a 30-month period from 1 January 2024 to 30 June 2026. The unions have until 25 March to complete the ballots. If an aggregate of the members of all the unions vote in favour then the agreement would provide the following pay increases: in 2024 – 2.25% or €1,125, whichever is greater, from 1 January; 1% on 1 June; 1% or €500, whichever is greater, on 1 October; in 2025 – 2% or €1,000, whichever is greater, on

The strike by retained firefighters over pay and staffing was due to go ahead on 26 July after being suspended by the SIPTU union to allow for a Labour Court hearing. At the hearing the employers failed to produce an acceptable offer and the date for action was confirmed by the union. Meanwhile, the Fórsa trade union is balloting members in its health and welfare division over two disputes – one in relation to career development and the other in relation to the excessive use of agency staff and external consultants. Both unions, along with the INMO trade union are also continuing to campaign

The Fórsa public services trade union has rejected what it described as a ‘derisory’ offer from the Department of Education in a long-running dispute over the pay and conditions of school secretaries. The union has been campaigning for years to end the unequal treatment of school secretaries employed by the Department of Education and those employed by schools. The latter are on much lower pay rates and have inferior rights to sickness and annual leave. Fórsa has not ruled out the possibility of industrial action. Meanwhile, social care workers in intellectual disability services have voted

Public service unions Fórsa and SIPTU have called for urgent action to better protect healthcare and childcare staff against the COVID-19 virus. Fórsa says that figures show over 9000 health workers were infected at the beginning of last month and that many are being pushed back to work too quickly by local management in response to increased demand and shortages of staff. Meanwhile, SIPTU has been making a case for a change in a approach in the childcare sector where there is no requirement to wear masks or implement social distancing. The union wants a review of procedures, for staff to be

The SIPTU health union has reiterated its demand that the government publishes full details of where over 7,600 workers have tested positive for Covid-19. The union says that the data is needed to identify any Covid-19 hotspots and to understand if health workers were exposed due to the lack of personal protective equipment (PPE) or poor enforcement of protocols. It will also allow the union to find out how these workers were treated by their employer. SIPTU is also concerned about health workers taken on by employment agencies who are not covered by Covid-19 paid leave or ‘death in service’

The SIPTU general union is pushing the government to increase funding to ensure that around 10000 care workers get the pay restoration that has been negotiated for workers directly employed in the public sector. At the time of austerity measures the government cutback on the grant going to so-called Section 39 providers and this had a direct impact on the disability and other care workers they employed. A three-year, public sector-wide agreement has been signed which will provide pay restoration for the majority of workers over the next three years. SIPTU is determined that these Section 39

Following votes across all the public sector unions, a majority (14), accounting for 80% by membership supported the new agreement on pay and conditions with three voting against. The three-year deal includes six pay increases (two targeted at the lower paid only) and will mean that the majority of public sector workers (73%) will see an overall increase of 7% by the end of the agreement. There is a range of other conditions that have been confirmed as part of the deal including the retention of outsourcing protections, the option to negotiate on returning to a shorter working week and