There is no need for the Government to consider a further round of pay cuts for public servants, despite the current economic situation, the general secretary of the state’s largest public sector trade union has said.
Shay Cody of Impact said public servants had suffered a 14 per cent pay cut in the past year and a half – cuts that were “more draconian” than in any other sector.
Mr Cody acknowledged public concern over “slowness and delay” in the pace of changes negotiated under the Croke Park agreement between the Government and trade unions.
But he said the unions were keen to get the agreement working.
Speaking on RTÉ's Morning Ireland, Mr Cody said the unions had been calling on management in the public service to bring forward proposals for change, cost-savings, service improvements and cost-avoidance over the past number of weeks.
“I think there is an onus on management to step up to the plate. I think it would be unfair and improper if the trade union movement was to be blamed for any procrastination, because we are not causing it,” he said.
Mr Cody said the Government’s estimates for next year would be published at the beginning of November.
Public service management could not “firm up” plans for change until such time as the level of funding available was published, he said.
Mr Cody said the “real protections” for workers built into the Croke Park agreement were the commitments not to impose compulsory redundancies or further pay cuts.
“The other side of that coin is that we will step up to the plate and cooperate with major changes in public expenditure.”
“Broadly speaking, the trade union movement would wish that there wasn’t a deflationary budget, but in the public service we have to deal with the public service as our employer as well as with government,” Mr Cody said.
He said any employer that was downsizing or that had less money available to it, required a “pragmatic cooperation” with the effects of that.
The trade union movement had agreed to sign up to the Croke Park agreement after “a lot of difficult debate” on the issues.
Unions were “willing and available” to cooperate once the other side brought forward proposals, he said.
He did not believe the Government would look for 30,000 redundancies in the public service, as had been reported.
“Any employer that is downsizing or has less money available to it, requires a pragmatic cooperation with the effects of that," he said. "We are willing and available to cooperate with that once the other side brings forward proposals."
However, Mr Cody questioned where the Government would get the money to pay for large-scale redundancies.
He said there appeared to be a “significant reluctance” on the part of Government to contemplate any redundancies even in areas where both the unions and the employer had considered that voluntary severance would be a “sensible approach”.
Mr Cody insisted public expenditure could be controlled and “managed downwards” through the employment moratorium and through exit packages where the situation arose.