Plans for council staff to strike
Fórsa plans action on September 30
Fórsa has served notice of industrial action on local authority employers, as Ireland’s largest public service trade union continues its preparations for action in the dispute over public service pay.
The union confirmed that formal notice has now issued to local authority employers throughout the country. Industrial action is set to commence on Wednesday, September 30.
Fórsa represents public service members across local government, the civil service, education, health and State agencies. Further notices are expected ahead of nationwide action by Fórsa members from September 30, following a decisive ballot result announced on September 1.
The notice for local authorities sets out a range of initial, targeted actions to be taken by Fórsa members employed by city and county councils. These include:
- Working strictly to contract terms
- Working strictly to rosters/working hours
- Withdrawal of all co-operation with new work practices, AI initiatives and changes to work practices
- Refusal to perform duties assigned to any another grade
- Refusal to take on duties, functions or responsibilities linked to vacant posts the employer has failed to fill, or has not replaced due to maternity leave, retirement or resignation
- Refusal to engage with, meet, report to, or share any information with newly engaged or appointed external private management consultants
- Refusal to return any national information to the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, or the LGMA, including financial returns, data returns, performance reports, productivity costings, monthly activity returns or any other national reports.
Fórsa is the largest union representing workers in local authorities. Fórsa’s Local Government & Local Services division represents 12,000 members employed in city and county councils and regional assemblies nationwide, while the union’s Municipal Division represents 1,500 members working in Dublin City Council.
Fórsa national secretary Richy Carrothers said local authority workers are keen to drive the message on cost-of-living back to the Government: “Our members have responded to the Government’s failure to grasp the core issue on a new public service pay agreement. In its failure to address pay issues at the commencement of talks, the Government has made this industrial action inevitable.
“Fórsa members have spoken as one in response and will act as one from September 30. The responsibility now rests with Government to come forward with a credible proposal capable of resolving this dispute and avoiding disruption across public services,” he said.
More than 62,000 Fórsa members backed industrial action in the recent union ballot. The result showed 96.6% of members voting in favour of industrial action, up to and including a full withdrawal of labour, on a turnout of 72.6%.