Shortly after it was negotiated, it looked like the Public Service Agreement 2010-2014 was a proverbial busted flush such was the level of opposition to it. Today, barring a miracle, the Agreement will be accepted by ICTU’s Public Services Committee next Tuesday 15 June. The ‘big battalions’ of the public service union world, SIPTU and IMPACT, have both voted by large majorities for the agreement, along with several other trade unions, thus ensuring acceptance. What are the implications of this deal going through for the various stakeholders? And what might we expect to see happening soon in the public service when the deal is formally ratified?
Government
For government, currently languishing at a poor third position in the latest Irish Times opinion poll, the deal represents a respite from further conflict with the public service unions. There is one less stick for the Opposition Parties to use on them. The government will no doubt argue that ratification of the agreement provides support for the ongoing moratorium on recruitment and on the filling of vacancies and on other public service cutbacks. Internationally, the government will be hoping that the agreement will be a signal to the markets that they have resolved industrial unrest and have a measure of compliance if not active support for cuts in spending.
They will be hoping that the detail of the concessions that they had to make to secure an agreement (guarantees of no compulsory redundancies, guarantees of no further pay cuts before 2014, and a facility whereby unions can seek the return of pay losses based on savings made) will not attract attention and will not be seen as any type of cave-in on their part to union pressure. While there are distinct advantages for government in having this deal there is no denying that they have given up access to further savings through additional pay cuts in the immediate future – barring a deepening of the economic crisis to an unexpected degree.
Public Service Unions
For the public service unions generally the agreement represents an opportunity to credibly cease the campaign of industrial action which their members supported but not with great enthusiasm. The task for them is to now ensure that the agreement is implemented in full and, in particular, that over the next few years, they begin to claw back some of the pay foregone through the 2009 budgetary decisions. One of the concerns that the unions had about the agreement was that public service management would not have the will or the capacity to see through the agreed changes that, if implemented in full, might provide the basis for unions claiming back lost pay on the basis of savings made through these changes. See Croke Park Deal = New Ballgame on Public Service Pay?
It remains to be seen how matters are handled in sectors like education where there are clear divisions over the agreement between ASTI, IFUT and TUI which all voted against and the INTO which voted for. In the health arena the INMO voted against while the majority of health service employees voted for through SIPTU, IMPACT, MLSA and other trade unions. In the civil service, AHCPS, PSEU and IMPACTvoted for while CPSU and the POA voted against.
If the public service unions stick with tradition, then the unions that voted against will abide by majority rule notwithstanding some suggestions to the contrary. CPSU and some others have already indicated that they will abide by majority rule. Nevertheless it would make sense for the unions that voted for and for public service management to find ways of bringing the other unions along with them.
Unions Outside the ICTU
Some of the unions that are not affiliated to ICTU such as PDFORRA, the representative body for rank and file military personnel, voted against the Agreement while others such as the AGSI, representing garda sergeants and inspectors, voted for. Such trade unions are not entitled under current legislation to affiliate to ICTU. They are not directly involved in the negotiations but were party to a ‘parallel process’ within the Croke Park negotiations. Interestingly, ICTU undertook to investigate the possibility of these organisations affiliating to ICTU a number of months ago during the period of union protests against public service pay cuts. Their votes will not be taken into account at the ICTU Public Services Committee but they will no doubt make their views known directly to their employers and to the government.
Public Service Management
For public service management there is now the opportunity – as well as the challenge – to deliver on all the changes that the unions have just voted through, including quire radical changes in the HSE which is on the receiving end of a lot of very negative publicity over standards of patient service. The agreement will almost certainly make life a little easier for new HSE Chief Executive Cathal Magee when he takes over the reins from Professor Drumm in the autumn. There will also be a cessation – ended in most places anyway at this stage it seems – of further industrial action on the issues covered by the agreement.
Public Service management and Trade Unions
For both public service management and trade unions there is the challenge of finding ways of quickly improving the quality of relationships in the wake of a major dispute. There is also the challenge of implementing changes together in the spirit of partnership which informs the agreement. It has often been commented that the public service suffers from management weakness and trade union strength. To some extent, the new agreement can be seen as providing a platform for management to become more assertive in pursuing the change agenda while for trade unions it provides them with vital rights to have a say in what happens on the ground.
The Public and Taxpayers
The strongest argument that government and the public service trade unions have made in favour of the agreement is that it will lead to a ‘transformation’ (should the word be banned it has been bandied around so much?) in the delivery of public services. The public will be watching very closely to see if standards of service improve, disimprove or remain the same. The agreement puts it up to government, public service management and trade unions to deliver now or to lose credibility very fast.
Comment
When this agreement is ratified it will be the first public service only pay agreement for more than twenty years. Since the Programme for National Recovery in 1987 national pay deals have always covered both the private and public sectors. Last year government, ICTU and IBEC failed to reach agreement on the handling of pay generally and there is now no pay agreement covering the private sector and, needless to say, no ‘social partnership’ at national level. It is highly unlikely that this new agreement will prepare the ground for a deal in the private sector, at least for the coming year if not for longer.
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