Restart talks or face strikes, Government told
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A PUBLIC sector union leader has warned that unions will have "no choice" but to strike in the absence of a Government invitation to return to the negotiating table.
Public Service Executive Union (PSEU) leader Tom Geraghty also indicated that they might accept the pension levy -- but only with major changes to protect the lower paid.
The Irish Congress of Trade Unions said the main purpose of the national demonstration of 120,000 workers on Saturday was to spark a return to negotiations after talks collapsed earlier this month.
If there is no sign that the Government is open to a major renegotiation of the hike in pension contributions by Tuesday -- when the ICTU executive council decides on its next step -- it is likely that unions may re-ballot or even act on their current mandate for industrial action.
The union for lower-paid civil servants, the Civil and Public Services Union, has already decided to hold a work stoppage on Thursday that could cripple key services, including dole and passport offices.
Mr Geraghty's PSEU, which represents 10,000 executive grades in the civil and public sector, said he expects members will back up to four days of industrial action when it discloses the result of its ballot today.
Teachers unions, representing 55,000 members, will begin balloting this week. Last night, TUI general secretary Peter McMenamin said his union would begin balloting for a strike of up to two days today.
Bigger unions such as Impact, SIPTU and the Irish Nurses Organisation -- which have held off on ballot announcements -- could review their position this week.
"If the Government does not invite us into talks, it will have to escalate into industrial action," said Mr Geraghty.
Talks
"I don't think we have any choice. We are not demanding that the levy is abolished . . . but that does not mean that tweaking it to give €100 back to a few people will be enough.
"We would like the Government to come to us and invite us to talks."
The general secretary of the Irish National Teachers' Organisation (INTO), John Carr, said the Government "must come to the table".
He said the weekend march was a vote of no-confidence in the handling of the economic crisis, and the only way to avoid serious industrial unrest was to reconvene social partnership.
The unions' main gripe with the pension levy, which ranges from three percent to 9.6pc of income on top of existing contributions of up to 6.5pc, is that it is disproportionately weighted against workers on lower and middle incomes.
Figures it released show a lower paid worker on €39,000 a year will pay €2,120 a year after tax, while a higher paid worker on €48,000 will pay €2,094.50 a year.
A Government spokesperson did not rule out further talks last night but said measures to cut the public payroll by €1.4bn would not be dramatically altered.
"We've always made it clear that we're open for discussion on these matters," he said.
- Anne-Marie Walsh Industry correspondent
