Members of the State's largest Civil Service union are planning a campaign of industrial action this autumn if the preliminary report of the Bench marking Body does not signal "substantial" increases in pay for clerical staff.
The conference of the Civil and Public Service Union in Galway took its decision after a long and heated debate in which delegates repeatedly denounced national wage agreements as "pay restraint deals" on the public service.
Last March CPSU members rejected by 87 per cent the 2 per cent cost-of-living increase conceded in the review of the Programme for Prosperity and Fairness. Yesterday the union's general secretary, Mr Blair Horan, said: "We have a very important decision to make. We have decided to reject the PPF and, at the same time, we have taken part in the bench marking process."
His executive is unanimously recommending a policy of pressing ahead with its presentation to the Benchmarking Body while simultaneously preparing a campaign of action if satisfactory progress is not made.
The body is expected to issue its preliminary report in the autumn.
This will contain basic re search findings on pay rates and conditions for comparable private-sector employments and will enable the CPSU and other unions to gauge how much they can expect when the process is completed next summer.
In an obvious reference to the ASTI dispute, Mr Horan said: "We haven't been idle since the ballot earlier this year. We have been consulting members through the union's structures on possible forms of industrial action if there is insufficient progress on benchmarking.
"I want to assure you that if we have to fight, we will fight a battle we can win and we won't fight a battle we can't win."
Referring to comments by the Minister for Education, Dr Woods, that ASTI members would receive significant pay increases if they entered the bench marking process, Mr Ho ran said he would be seeking si milar assurances from the Min ister for Finance, Mr McCreevy.
Mr Horan refused to be drawn on how much the CPSU would seek from benchmarking or what form industrial action might take. It was clear from the debate and talking to union members at the conference, however, that they would like to see the clerical officer scale of £12,500 to £20,000 increase to between £16,000 and £27,000.
During the debate Mr Cathal O Torma, from the Department of Education branch, said to loud applause: "The private sector can make any deal it wants while we are left flailing behind again. I believe we will ultimately have to pursue our own agenda.
"We have an 87 per cent mandate for strike action. Let's go back to our branches. Let's mobilise and let's use it."