The chief negotiator for public sector unions has warned of a long and sustained campaign of industrial action if the Government proceeds to impose pay cuts in Wednesday's budget.
However Peter McLoone was unable to say yet what form that industrial action would take, or when it would commence.
He was speaking after a two-hour meeting of the Public Services Commitee of the International Congress of Trade Unions following Friday's breakdown of talks between the Government and unions on reducing the public pay bill by €1.3 billion in 2010.
He said the various unions would engage at sectoral level to decide the most appropriate form of action for their sector.
He expects the outcome of those deliberations by early next week. He did not rule out industrial action of some form before Christmas.
He said the forthcoming protest action would be different in character and substance from previous actions involving one day stoppages. He said said the first casualty would be cooperation with the government's change agenda, which has now come to an end.
Asked whether unions should proceed to implement public sector reforms which both sides had agreed were necessary, Mr McLoone said that was not a realistic expectation.
He said programmes had been developed in good faith where it was clear that in order for unions to agree to the transformation agenda, the Government would have to agree to no cuts in pay, pensions or compulsory redundancies.
He said that with the Government deciding to go ahead and cut pay, there was no basis for the transformation agenda to go ahead.
He confirmed that there had been no contact with Government - official or unofficial - since the talks broke down on Friday.
