It has become something of a cliche to say that the country faced a “winter of discontent” as a result of the various industrial disputes involving teachers, gardaí and transport workers which flared up over recent months.
However, cliche or not, it could equally be said the the Government is also facing into a potential spring of industrial unrest, with a number of other disputes now on the horizon.
It is possible that at some stage in February, doctors, nurses and support staff across the health service could all be involved in some form of strike action over a number of different grievances.
At the same time, second level teachers who are members of the ASTI will be voting in the weeks ahead on whether to accept settlement proposals arising from their work stoppages in November. The union leadership has urged its 17,000 members to reject the proposed deal in a move which could lead to school closures once again next month.
As The Irish Times reports today, in addition to income lost as a result of strikes, more than 2,300 second level teachers have already seen incremental pay rises frozen as a result of "repudiating" the Lansdowne Road pay agreement, with nearly 10,000 more to lose out on these payments in the months ahead if the dispute is not resolved.
Trouble
The prospect for trouble in the near future at the State-owned transport company Bus Éireann is also very real as a consultant’s report is awaited on future plans for the loss-making Expressway service.
Management had previously suggested that Expressway should be separated from the rest of the company with job losses – potentially compulsorily – and inferior terms and conditions introduced for remaining staff.
The company also maintained that as its financial position was in a critical state it could not afford pay increases for staff.
Issues regarding the future of the Expressway service are expected to come to a head before the end of the month.
The possibility also exists for industrial trouble on the railways, also over pay, in the weeks and months ahead.
In the wider public service, talks between the Government and unions over “anomalies” arising from the recent €50 million pay deal for gardaí aimed at averting strike action are also likely to conclude by the end of January.
Unions are furious that gardaí, who remained outside the Lansdowne Road agreement, the centrepiece of the Government’s public service pay policy, secured a better deal, worth about €4,000 each, than groups which stayed inside the accord.
‘Anomalies’
The Government promised to address within the next few weeks what it described as “anomalies” arising from the garda deal, a move which could see a planned €1,000 rise scheduled for most public service personnel next September brought forward by several months.
These "anomalies" talks will be followed after Easter by a second set of discussions aimed at agreement on a successor to the Lansdowne Road deal. This will follow the publication of the report of the new Public Service Pay Commission.
A major potential for disagreement in these discussions centres over moves by the Government to put increasingly valuable public service pensions on the table for reform.
More immediately for the Government there are a series of potential sectoral disputes in the offing which in the first instance could cause chaos in the health service.
Already members of the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) have backed industrial action by a margin of 90 per cent in a bid to secure new arrangements to recruit and retain nursing staff. In essence the INMO is seeking financial incentives to encourage nurses who are in the health system to stay there or those abroad to return to take up posts.
Third party
Talks aimed at heading off industrial action by nurses are due to take place on Thursday of this week in advance of a meeting of the INMO executive on January 17th.
The talks this week may examine the potential of establishing a new process involving a third party to deal with some priority issues for the INMO, with others being referred to the new pay commission.
Non-consultant hospital doctors are also planning to ballot for strike action in early February over a €3,000 living-out allowance payment which was abolished for new staff recruited after 2011.
The Irish Medical Organisation is also taking court action against the Government on this issue, with a case due to be heard in late February.
Some attempt may be made in the weeks ahead to see if the issue of the living-out allowance can be included in the planned “anomaly” talks between unions and the Government this month.
Separately, thousands of health service support staff, including healthcare assistants and home helps, who are represented by Siptu, are warning of strike action in a row over a job evaluation scheme which could lead to pay rises if their posts were considered to have expanded.
However, the Government is concerned that this could have significant financial implications.
