Unions vote over new public sector deal

Members of the ver.di services union working in childcare and other social services have voted with a majority of 57.2% to accept a pay deal with between €93 and €138 a month for childcare workers and €30-€80 a month for other care workers. Ver.di sees this as a first step in tackling the structural gender pay gap that depresses pay for occupations dominated by women. In the summer the workers had rejected the proposals from an arbitration committee and further strike action seemed likely. However, the VKA public sector employers' organisation agreed to some improvements to the proposal of the

The public services unions in the ICTU confederation have voted to accept the so-called Croke Park deal. The agreement commits the government not to cut public service pay again, and to begin the process of reversing recent pay cuts as savings flow from the substantial reforms set out in the deal. It also contains a government commitment to avoid compulsory redundancies, plus important safeguards on pensions and outsourcing. Public service pay has been cut by an average of 14% over the last 16 months through the so-called ‘pension levy’ and reductions in pay scales introduced in the last