SIPTU members in the public service have voted overwhelmingly in favour of the latest public sector pay deal.
In a ballot conducted in Dublin, Cork and Galway over 90% of votes counted were in favour of the proposals.
Fórsa, the Irish National Teachers’ Organisation (INTO), the Teachers’ Union of Ireland (TUI) and the Prison Officers’ Association have also voted to accept the pay deal.
Other public sector unions and staff associations are currently in the process of balloting their members on the agreement.
They will bring their ballot results to a meeting of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU) Public Services Committee on Monday 25 March.
Agreement was reached with the Government at the Workplace Relations Commission in January on a deal that will provide for pay increases of 10.25% and over a two-and-a-half year period.
The proposals are worth up to 17.3% for lower paid workers.
Speaking following the release of the SIPTU ballot result, the union’s Deputy General Secretary John King said the agreement delivers a significant improvement in pay for public service workers, safeguards against job outsourcing and privatisation, and offers a mechanism to address local claims and disputes.
“It addresses the current cost of living and inflation challenges while enhancing the terms and conditions for SIPTU members in the public service,” Mr King said.
The previous public service pay agreement, Building Momentum, expired on 31 December 2023 and the proposed new deal will run from January 2024 to June 2026.
If the agreement is ratified, the first of a series of pay increases will come in the form of a 2.25% increase backdated to 1 January.
The pay deal will cost around €3.6 billion and includes a local bargaining mechanism to allow individual grades, groups and categories of public servants to raise specific issues.
