Second National Public Sector Strike Set for Thursday 12 November
Public service unions say a second 24-hour national strike will go ahead on 12 November unless pay talks make a breakthrough. The work-to-rule is being stepped up. Fórsa's organiser at Monaghan County Council says the Government needs to listen to workers.
By the Monaghan Brief staff·Edited by Seamus McKenna·Published · 2 min read
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Market House, Monaghan town, from the south. Archive location photograph; not a photo of the events in this story. Eric Jones · CC BY-SA 2.0. Resized and colour-graded; cropped in layout.
Public service unions have confirmed a second 24-hour national strike for Thursday 12 November if there is no breakthrough in pay talks. The Irish Times reports that the unions are also stepping up the work-to-rule that is already in place.
The 19 unions in the Irish Congress of Trade Unions Public Services Committee met on Monday morning, 2 November, according to The Irish Times.
The unions say the Government did not make a "credible" pay offer during 11 days of talks over the past two weeks. Fórsa general secretary Kevin Callinan said the offer fell short on all fronts.
The Irish Times reports that the unions want any deal to address the gap between public sector pay and inflation since 2021, and to protect incomes over the course of a deal. Callinan said local bargaining was also an issue.
The strike day coincides with the European Political Community summit, when more than 50 heads of government are due in Dublin.
Business Post reports that Minister Jack Chambers described the planned strike as "extremely regrettable".
Monaghan view
Jay Power is Fórsa's industrial organiser for Monaghan County Council. He told Northern Sound that the union's members are being hit hard by the cost-of-living crisis, and that the Government needs to start listening to workers.
Northern Sound says more than 300,000 workers joined last month's strike, which was the largest public sector strike in over 15 years. It affected hospitals, ambulance stations, local authorities, schools and colleges, and State agencies.
Sources
This article is an original summary based on the following reporting. We encourage readers to visit the original sources for full coverage.
Next Wednesday's national public sector strike, which had been set to be the second in a week to hit Monaghan schools, council offices and hospital appointments, has been suspended after a late intervention by the Taoiseach. The work-to-rule continues.
The 24-hour national public sector strike is under way. Monaghan County Council offices and schools across the county are shut, and pickets are planned at Monaghan General Hospital, St Davnet's Campus and St Mary's Hospital in Castleblayney. Here is what is and is not open.
About 80 premises in the Telaydon area and 14 near Smithboro lost power on Sunday, and supply was cut earlier in Tydavnet. Nationally, Storm Boelo left 41,000 premises without electricity at its peak.
