Craftworkers in local authorities and the health service have voted by 20 to one to take strike action in support of a claim for an extra £27.69p a week. Their unions have said they are available for talks, but have warned that they will not co-operate in providing emergency services if the strike goes ahead from close of business on Friday, November 28th.
The chief executive of the Health Service Employers Association, Mr Gerard Barry, said he was very concerned at the refusal to provide emergency cover. "It's a very worrying development from the point of view of health service employers."
The vote for strike action was not unexpected, but the majority in favour has surprised most observers and will make it difficult for the craft group of unions to settle for anything less than the full increase.
The dispute poses the first major challenge to Government pay policy under Partnership 2000. Around 30,000 other workers, mainly members of SIPTU, have direct pay links with the 4,000 craftworkers involved.
Mr Finbarr Maguire, of the Technical Engineering and Electrical Union, blamed the refusal of employers to honour the terms of the 1979 craft analogue agreement for the dispute. The analogue is a formula which is used to automatically adjust the pay rates of craftworkers and bring them into line with similar employments in the private sector and semi-State companies.
The current rate was "£27.69p a week adrift at the expiry of the Programme for Competitiveness and Work on June 30th, 1997", Mr Maguire said. The trade union position was that the terms of the review should be fully implemented during Partnership 2000.
The strike would be the first national strike by craftworkers in the sector and could lead to major disruption of services in hospitals and local authorities.
Mr Barry denied that employers were in breach of existing agreements. The dispute was over how those agreements should be interpreted.