Public sector pay deal agreed to political relief

Résumé détaillé

For the second evening in a row, all eyes in Government were on the pay talks between the public sector trade unions and officials from the Department of Public Expenditure last…

For the second evening in a row, all eyes in Government were on the pay talks between the public sector trade unions and officials from the Department of Public Expenditure last night.

But the anxiety of the previous evening – and of recent weeks – had dissipated: the decisive breakthrough had been made the previous night, and the talks yesterday and last night were about finalising the details.

Irish Times reporters worked to winkle out the details yesterday: pay increases of 10.75 per cent over two years and nine months under new proposals being considered by trade unions; this includes a 2 per cent rise this year backdated to September. There would also be a one per cent local bargaining payment which would be linked to ongoing change, a number of sources familiar with the discussions said on Tuesday. The remaining 7.75 per cent will be paid in stages over a further period of two years and three months. The overall pay deal would run until March 2029, and there will be higher pay rises for the lowest-paid workers.

Of course, things can go wrong at the last minute: brides- and husbands-to-be do sometimes get left at the altar. But across Government and trade unions there was agreement that they have got a deal each side can live with at last. And after 3am this morning, after another long night, came the news that the deal had been concluded.

The public sector strike planned for Thursday has been called off, he reports, after the Government and trade unions agreed a deal that will deliver pay increases of at least 10.75 per cent to more than 400,000 workers by the end of March 2029.

The new national pay agreement, concluded during talks at the Workplace Relations Commission, will now be considered by national executives of the 19 public services unions over the coming days, with many of them due to meet today.

An overall result of the ballots is expected during the second week of December.

The cancellation of the strike will be a relief to those parts of the Government…

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