This year is pivotal, as it marks the end of the Public Sector Pay agreement and the potential for future pay talks later this year.
The current Public Sector Pay agreement concludes on 30th June. We expect there will be discussions between the Public Services Committee of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions and the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform in the coming months.
SIPTU, as an officer of the Public Services Committee of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions, will be a key negotiator in those talks.
We urge all SIPTU members, local committees and sector committees to actively engage now in discussions about what we urgently need from these upcoming negotiations.
Your input is essential to shaping the negotiations and ensuring your needs are represented.
We want the negotiations to be more than about pay-chasing-inflation. We want real pay increases for members that address the cost-of-living crisis and protect our members’ pay and terms and conditions, given the challenges in the economy at the moment.
Coupled with that, we want a pay agreement to address challenges within the workforce, such as modernisation and change agendas, the threat of outsourcing, the emergence of AI, and the erosion of long and hard-fought terms and conditions of employment within the public service.
It is essential that we secure protections in employment, such as maintaining protections against compulsory redundancies and outsourcing.
Equally, we must manage the growing threat of artificial intelligence in the workplace for all our members.
Public Sector Pay agreements are generally negotiated every three years, with the current one ending on 30th June.
We don’t have an agreement as of 1st July; therefore, if negotiations are initiated, we need to be ready to secure what our members need from a talks process with the Government.
As it is likely a pay talks process may be initiated in the coming period, we need every member to voice their needs now and be heard.
Please get involved in the discussions within your own workplace.
Join SIPTU today and become part of the conversation.
By continuing to grow our collective voice and strengthen our Union, we can ensure that every worker in Ireland’s health service has the respect, resources, and opportunities they deserve.
This article was written by SIPTU Health Divisional Organiser, Kevin Figgis (pictured)