Dear Members,
Throughout July and August, SIPTU representatives have been meeting members in workplaces across the country as part of our consultation process on the Government’s ongoing failure to begin negotiations on a successor Public Service Pay Agreement.
The message from those consultations is clear, consistent and impossible to ignore.
Our members want the Government to return to the negotiating table and engage in meaningful discussions on a new agreement that recognises the commitment of public servants and addresses the growing cost-of-living pressures facing workers and their families.
Alongside these consultations, Phase 1 of our workplace ballot programme is now underway across major health service locations.
These ballots demonstrate our members’ determination to secure genuine engagement rather than further delay. Every vote strengthens our collective mandate and reinforces the demand for negotiations to begin without further postponement.
Public service pay talks have always been about more than annual pay increases.
They are a vital mechanism for resolving industrial relations issues, protecting terms and conditions, improving workplace practices and safeguarding directly employed public services. When negotiations stall, progress on these critical issues is also placed at risk.
At a time when the Government is seeking to control public expenditure, including health spending, protecting directly employed jobs has become one of the defining challenges facing our Union.
Financial pressures can never be allowed to justify outsourcing, privatisation or the erosion of secure public service employment.
Our members know that patients receive the highest standard of care when services are delivered by experienced, directly employed healthcare workers and support staff.
Our members have shown extraordinary commitment in delivering healthcare through some of the most challenging years our public services have ever faced.
They are entitled to expect that commitment to be matched by a Government willing to engage in meaningful negotiations on pay, staffing and the future of our health service.
This campaign is about protecting living standards, secure employment, and the future of public healthcare.
Through workplace consultations and ballots, our members are sending an unmistakable message: Government must negotiate, not procrastinate.
In Solidarity,
Kevin Figgis
Health Divisional Organiser