PUBLIC SERVICE WORKERS in the Fórsa trade union have voted overwhelmingly in favour of industrial action, up to and including strike action.

The union opened the nationwide ballot for industrial action among more than 90,000 members working in health, education services, local government and State departments on 4 August.

The result of the ballot was 96% in favour of industrial action up to and including full-scale strike action, on a turnout of 72%. 

The union said the result “reflects strong concern among public service workers about pay, living standards and the government’s failure to put forward a credible basis for renewed engagement”.

It said different forms of industrial action are likely to take place in different workplaces in the coming weeks, ranging from work-to-rule and the withdrawal of cooperation with overtime, and will include the possibility of full strike action.

The union’s national executive will meet tomorrow to sanction the its plans for industrial action.

Announcing the result at the union’s headquarters in Dublin, Fórsa general secretary Kevin Callinan said he believed it was the largest-ever strike ballot in Ireland.

“We will be liaising with other public service committee affiliates of the ICTU in relation to other common actions that might be taken right across the public service by the various trade unions involved,” he said. 

It comes a day after Siptu workers voted in favour of industrial action.

The previous public sector pay deal expired at the end of June. It provided for general pay increases of 9.25% for public sector workers, along with a 1% local bargaining fund.

Formal talks on a successor agreement have yet to begin.

Fórsa previously said exploratory talks in June did not provide sufficient assurance that a new agreement would address the cost-of-living pressures facing public service workers. 

Related Reads

Tens of thousands of public sector workers have voted for industrial action - what's going on?

Siptu members in public service vote in favour of strike action over pay

Callinan, who also chairs the Public Services Committee of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU), said Fórsa remained “willing to negotiate”.

“For those kind of agreements to work, they have to protect the living standards of the people that they cover, and we pointed out in the discussions that over the last five or six years, the pay of the average public servant has fallen significantly behind prices,” he said.

“And that it was essential on this occasion, if there was to be an agreement, that we had an understanding that that would be addressed.”

Fórsa said it will notify employers and relevant public bodies of the union’s next steps following tomorrow’s meeting of the union’s NEC.

With reporting from Press Association