TWO MORE PUBLIC service trade unions have this evening accepted the Haddington Road public pay deal.
The Irish Medical Organisation, representing the country’s doctors, and the Civil and Public Service Union which represents lower-paid public workers, both accepted the deal.
IMO members voted to accept the proposals by a two-to-one margin, while the CPSU margin was 55-45.
The IMO had recommended that its members accept the proposals, but the CPSU was one of four unions to advise against a Yes vote.
The IMO’s director of industrial relations Steve Tweed said its members were clear that the Government and HSE were now compelled to follow up their side of the deal.
This includes bringing Ireland into line with the EU Working Time directive by the end of 2014, and an agreement to try and encourage highly-trained staff to remain in the Irish system instead of seeking work abroad.
However, the union said it expected urgent action on cutting working hours for junior doctors and would hold a ballot for industrial action if no action was taken by the beginning of August.
Separately, the CSPA said on its website that its executive would meet tomorrow to discuss how best to challenge the Government on its unilateral pay cuts for high workers under the Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest Act 2013 passed earlier this year.
This legislation and the politicians who supported it in the Oireachtas must be challenged and held accountable by workers and their trade unions.
UNITE remains the only union to have rejected the proposals after a ballot.
Both of the secondary teachers’ unions, the ASTI and the TUI, originally rejected the plans without ballots – but both have now arranged to ballot their members in light of the outcomes of other votes.
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