How do people feel about this one? Will it be short and sweet?
Mod warning:
https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121425200/#Comment_121425200
It literally is not.
It is a matter between them and their employer.
So our strike is not their problem. We shouldn't be asking them to risk their employment, and they would be.
If they don't come in, as requested by the client, the client can request a new person.
When? I said that I told contractors, in my dept, that I wouldn't hold it against them to pass.
I've had a union steward tell ME that it was OK to go into the lab, if a strike was coming.
Employment legislation means it's not that easy for private companies to let people go.
Civil and public servants owe no more to protect employees of private companies, than they owe us.
Look, I agree with many of your posts, but I think you're over-reaching on this point.
They are on short term rolling contracts, even with the parent company, or are independent contractors
It's very easy to not renew.
I actually work in this sphere. I've seen how easy it is to get rid of a contractor
Not sure how WFH works in your Department/Office but there are no agreed WFH patterns in mine - it is completely flexible as long as you do your x days per week in the office. Anyway, it 100% won't come to a strike so nothing to worry about.
LOL, alot of you clearly don't deal with any of the lower paid private workers through companies. They are struggling to fill positions, none of them are getting fired if they don't cross a pocket but they also aren't getting slack from most if they do as they don't get paid and many are barely above minimum wage. Let them go in and have a doss day, the actual work in the building still doesn't get done.
They're very worked up in NI at the moment. Might even force the DUP back to government. Will it go that far here I wonder?
https://m.independent.ie/business/jobs/room-for-negotiation-on-29bn-public-sector-pay-offer-paschal-donohoe-says/a1524040980.html article says an hour ago but I feel like I read it last week. Maybe they did a small edit or maybe I’m going mad.
I work with enough and there are plenty to be had. It's the very top consultants who are hard to replace
Struggling with cleaners (cafe/shop seems fine) all the time around our place. We have to have meetings with the contract companies quite a bit. Really nice, and I'd not deny any of them a pay day, particularly when they are on lower pay than our permanent lowest paid. Some of them have ported over into permanent roles in technical services, they won't cross the picket, nor will they be reported to HR for not doing so. As the person who would be checking won't cross and therefore cannot possibly confirm 🤣
Most contractors that work alongside public servants are on many multiples of what the PS employees are on. Yes the work is piecemeal but when there is plenty of it, like at the moment it’s not a bad gig.
In my opinion, most would not cross a PS Union picket if the Union cause was anyway coherent.
And I am very experienced in tenders and public procurement.
Again, not trying to be rude, but why is this our problem? We have enough of our own.
You seem more invested in fighting their corner and protecting the employment of these people rather than your own colleagues pay and conditions, at this stage.
I'd agree.
Once a strike was over, if the employer were to not renew contractors who didn't cross the picket, they'd be looking at another strike on their hands.
Who would go on strike for contractors?
Many years ago, I was a salaried full-time employee of a company that was contracted to a semi-state. Said semi-state had multiple division go on strike over the time I worked there
We were told, by the company that actually employed me, never to cross a picket. And even when WFH was possible - this was well before the pandemic - there was nothing to actually do, due to the rest of the work that those on strike did being required for the any bit of the company to function.
It operates according to DPER's Blended Working Framework for the civil service, and according to my departments own WFH policy which is based on that.
I wouldn’t be so sure. Especially after today .
I’d be pretty sure there won’t be a strike. I don’t think today makes a difference other than it might give the Irish government a push.
Is that because you think the government will surely make a better offer in an election year or because you think Unions will accept the current offer?
8.5% over 2.5 years seems pretty poor by any private sector metric.
They'll make a better offer , they’ve already said they would. Their reasoning’s for making a better offer will in my opinion be a combination of the fact they can afford to , and the fact they won’t want public sector unrest in general but especially around an election.
A push with a cattle prod ! One hundred and fifty odd thousand people , a few miles away , didn’t go to to work today . That is unprecedented.
Im surprised that our unions didn’t advocate that PS workers here make some token gesture in support of their Northern counterparts .
The longer the Government hold off on a decent pay rise the most emboldened the PS Union members will become . I have enough experience of unions and also the impotency of some of them to know.
I personally think your line of thinking is way off the mark. We will find out soon enough though. Just from an extremely brief look, teachers up north haven’t had a pay rise in 3 years. Civil servants got 2% in 2022 , zero in 2023. They are all being paid less than their Uk counterparts. It’s just not the same situation at all hence why I don’t see it affecting us at all. They have literally been offered a fund to use for pay rises and they can’t accept it. Could you imagine if that happened here? Course there’d be a strike. Seems silly posters here claiming they are “braver” than us. Source https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-67957902.amp
Absolutely, two situation on no way comparable.
PS got pay increases every year the last 3 years, a lot in PS up north did not.
looks strike edging closer as donohoe hasnt raised offer
The unions need to give a deadline and stick to it. Each time the government offers a crumb the union back down say they'll wait.
If the government truly thought the unions were about to go on strike a deal would be done with 24 hours.
I read that article linked above, interesting. I have a question though... given the rigid hierarchy in most public/civil service jobs, does it not create problems when one grade is given more of an increase than others?
Surely there needs to be a substantial differential in roles/grades. Otherwise, what's the point in doing a more challenging role for, relatively, less pay?
He has said there is room for negotiation. He basically said he’d raise it but he had to be careful to deal in absolutes without being back at the talks at the WRC.
A strike, which I still don't think is likely, is still several weeks away. Members have to be balloted and strike notice issued. You're talking mid-February. Any deadline given before the first strike day would be artificial.
Yes. Contractors are not part of this negotiation and not affected by it.
You wouldn't expect members of a different union not on strike to not cross your picket either. Before the merger PSEU and CPSU were rarely on strike on the same day so had to cross each other's pickets.
Saying that some union you're not a member of is on strike will cut no ice with HR, whether you could have joined that union or not.
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