Public Pay Talks - see mod warning post 4293

A terrible offer by the sounds of it and the government want time to reflect on the talks. I hope they go ahead with the strike ballot and follow through on their threats. There is plenty of money for everyone else so let's see if the unions are willing to follow through on their threats. The union should have received this offer on day one. An absolute shambles by the sounds of it.

Public sector pay talks break up without deal after ‘extremely disappointing’ offer

"the opening offer from the Government side was extremely disappointing and the fact remains that there’s a substantial gap between the parties in relation to pay”.

Kinda feels like we knew this already and it didn't really need to take 12 meetings to confirm.

Everyone feeling valued this morning?

This is it. Unions have been toothless for years. The govt will call their bluff.

The govt have been able to sit on their hands for years on a wide range of issues, and not be seriously challenged on their policies.

They were never going to reach agreement on the first go. I’m sure both sides already know where the middle ground is and they probably will get there in the next week or two. The government need a reason to improve their offer (maintain industrial peace in light of threatened industrial action) and the unions need to at least make it appear they got the best deal on offer by rejecting the first one and raising the bar.

It would want to be a hell of a lot better than 2.5% if that is true what's being reported

I've long said theres an element of showmanship about the talks. I've never seen the talks not drag on. They regularly drag on till 2/3 am and theres really no reason for it.

I'll wait to see what the final deal is before criticising or praising the Unions. People were demanding we balloted for industrial action before Christmas. That looks likely now after todays meeting. I don't understand how it took 12 meetings to get to pay but if it results in us eventually getting a proper deal, I'm willing to wait.

Nothing stopping you joining.

Some people are on the same income as 18 years ago.

As I said, if ye are not happy with the public sector, be like Ryan Tubrity - walk. Find your true worth in the private sector. He did. He is now rumoured to be on 50 to 70 grand stg a year - a far cry from the money he was on in RTE, which to all intents and purposes is public service as it is funded and guaranteed by the taxpayer.

I wish the unions were more forthcoming with information on the talks. Surely weekly updates are not too much to ask. By all means, keep your cards close to your chest during intensive negotiations, but otherwise keep people informed.

Why don't they say,"the government's offer of X% is too low"? It might help to put pressure on the government who, at the moment, are clearly under none whatsoever.