‘Strong majority’ of INMO members vote for pay deal

Members of the Irish Nurses and Midwives’ Organisation (INMO) have voted in favour of the latest public sector pay deal.

In a message to members, the INMO said the proposals had been accepted by a “strong majority”.

“Once the results of the ballot have been ratified by the ICTU Public Services Committee, the INMO will write to the HSE immediately to confirm that pay increases will be made urgently,” the organisation said.

Fórsa, SIPTU, the Irish National Teachers’ Organisation (INTO), the Association of Secondary Teachers in Ireland (ASTI), the Teachers’ Union of Ireland (TUI) and the Prison Officers’ Association have also voted to accept the proposals.

Public sector unions and staff associations 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.

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 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.