Updated at 15.30
THE ASSOCIATION OF Higher Civil and Public Servants has voted to back Government proposals aimed at reducing the public pay bill by €1 billion between now and 2015.
A spokesperson for the union confirmed to TheJournal.ie that members had voted to accept the Haddington Road deal by a margin of 64 to 36 per cent. There was a 76 per cent turn-out.
The AHCPS were among a group of unions who rejected the Croke Park 2 deal earlier this year, before revised proposals were hammered out at the Labour Relations Commission.
The organisation represents just over 3,000 senior civil servants and managers in the commercial and non-commercial state sectors.
General Secretary of the AHCPS Dave Thomas said the new agreement was “a modest improvement” on the earlier deal, and went some way towards addressing “the manifest inequalities” of Croke Park 2. He continued:
…we are concerned at recent signals from Government suggesting cuts in income tax, while simultaneously continuing to cut public sector pay. It is precisely this type of approach that served to drive Ireland’s economic collapse.We would suggest to those in Government that it would be wise not to repeat the mistakes of the past.
Two other major unions came on board yesterday, with the Irish Medical Organisation – representing the country’s doctors – and the Civil and Public Service Union, which represents lower-paid public workers, both accepting the deal.
UNITE remains the only union to have rejected the proposals after a ballot, following a recommendation from its top officials.
Both of the secondary teachers’ unions, the ASTI and the TUI – which originally rejected the plans without ballots – have arranged to ballot their members in light of the outcomes of other votes.
The Haddington Road measures are due to come into effect from next Monday, and the agreement is set to run for three years.
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