It’s very sad that it took a mass strike from public sector unions before the Government would come to the negotiating table.

A major stumbling block is that the Government wanted terms and conditions attached to the ‘Pay Rise’.

To call it a pay rise is frankly a bit of a joke. The net increase in public sector pay over the 2.5 years of the Public Sector Pay Agreement worked out at about 1.5% BEFORE tax. So, in real terms public service workers are no better off in terms of pay than we were in December 2023. Any pay rise currently being sought is simply to stop workers receiving effective pay cuts due to inflation.

Since the economic crash of 2008, the public sector has been under continuous pressure. Initially, there was the brutal pay cuts and increased taxes that demoralised thousands, and encouraged many highly skilled workers to take early retirement – thereby losing decades of experience.

Once the economy began to recover, a series of agreements had ‘Productivity’ built into them.

Croke Park Agreement (2010 – 2013)

• The Croke Park Agreement (2010 – 2013)
• The Haddington Road Agreement (2013 – 2015)
• The Landsdowne Road Agreement (2015 – 2018)
• The Public Service Stability Agreement (2018 – 2020)
• Building Momentum (2021 – 2023)
• The Public Service Agreement (2024 – June 2026)

Each and every one of these agreements has included pay increases, but at the cost of changing work practices, extra hours, and productivity.

One has to wonder at this point just how much more productivity can be squeezed from the workers. 6 agreements, each including ‘improved’ productivity. We are past the point of getting more blood from the stone.

When you change the conditions of work (hours, practices, productivity) you are changing the job. We have reached the point where peoples’ jobs have changed to the extent that it’s no longer a pay rise – it’s simply pay for a very different way of working.

The group who suffers most in this is those who started work after 2011. Their career earnings are tens of thousands less than colleagues who had the good fortune to be born a bit earlier.

Of course we have the usual loud voices to contend with at this point. Micheal O’Leary has said that the government will ‘Buckle and roll over’ to the unions – implying that any agreement would be a surrender.

And so our unions are going to the table in good faith to see a pay rise that will hopefully match inflation.

The unions should have a strong hand. After all, the main unions all voted 95% or more in favour of action.

The government will go to the same table, hoping to turn the screws and get blood from a stone.

Any agreement that comes out will have to go to the various union members for a vote.

In this vote my conscience tells me that I must keep younger members in mind. And so, any agreement that ties productivity is likely to be rejected.