The lead union negotiator in upcoming public sector pay talks has said that the next agreement with the Government will have to be more flexible than previous pay deals.
Kevin Callinan is the General Secretary of Fórsa and the chair of ICTU's public services committee.
Speaking at the annual Industrial Relations News Conference in UCD, Mr Callinan said that new mechanisms are needed to allow for issues to be raised by workers that fall outside of existing pay deals.
Right now, it is not possible to submit additional pay claims during the lifetime of a public service agreement.
The issue was highlighted this week when the Government told retained firefighters that their request for increased pay could only be dealt with in the next round of public sector talks.
The current agreement, Building Momentum, is due to expire at the end of the year and talks between unions and the Government on a new pay deal are expected to begin in the coming months.
"Effectively we haven't been able to deal with issues that arise and I think, given the current labour market conditions and the challenges facing the country, that we’re going to have to have that kind of flexibility in any new agreement," Mr Callinan said.
"Each of the agreements we have had since the financial crisis have made it clear that apart from whatever terms are in the agreement, no cost increasing claims can be submitted.
"That is simply untenable when we have change happening in so many parts of the public service and when we have labour market pressures, of the type we have, leading to specific recruitment and retention issues," Mr Callinan added.
"We have to have more flexibility in any agreement."
"Obviously the Government wants cost certainty but workers want to be able to raise their issues and have them processed in a fair way," he added.
Mr Callinan said that union members have made it abundantly clear that dealing with the high cost of living is the top line issue for pay negotiations in both the public and private sectors.
A spokesperson for the Department of Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery and Reform said that as Building Momentum expires at the end of 2023, the Government will be due to enter into discussions on pay with public service unions and representative associations later this year.
"It is expected that inflation and cost of living issues will arise in the context of any discussions," the spokesperson said.
