A threatened five-day strike which could have disrupted many community employment projects next week has been suspended to allow for talks.
The dispute involves Community Employment Scheme supervisors who are furious that the Government has refused to implement a 2008 Labour Court recommendation that they should be awarded pension entitlements.
The Government has argued that the supervisors in question are not public servants and therefore do not enjoy the same pension entitlements.
The workers, represented by Fórsa and SIPTU, say that even if there is a settlement, many of their colleagues have already retired and even died without securing what they see as their entitlements.
They had scheduled a five-day strike from Monday but following two meetings with the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection, the industrial action was suspended to permit a working group to examine the issue in a "time-bound" process.
