O’Callaghan criticises “arrogant” government over treatment of public service workers

Editors’ note: This article went to print on the afternoon of Friday, November 6th, prior to the breakthrough in talks between unions and the government.

For the sake of posterity, we are presenting the article as it originally appeared in print.

Social Democrats TD Cian O’Callaghan has claimed that Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael have “barely disguised contempt” for public service workers.

October saw the largest industrial action in nearly 20 years, when over 300,000 public sector workers went on strike in protest over poor pay and working conditions.

The unions have argued that the likes of the Croke Park agreement and other austerity-era public sector reforms are outdated in the context of the modern world, whereas the government have not seen a reason to change the legislation.

As a result of the industrial action, the Dáil did not sit on that day, with O’Callaghan himself stating that he and other Social Democrats TDs would not cross a picket line owing to industrial action at Leinster House.

At the time of going to print on Friday afternoon, another day of industrial action will take place on Thursday, November 12.

O’Callaghan dubbed the government “arrogant” and criticised them for their “intransigence” in not wanting to play ball with the unions.

Addressing Taoiseach Micheál Martin, O’Callaghan said “for most of the year, you ignored them (the unions), barely bothering to engage before the current pay deal expired in June; this intransigence and arrogance blew up in your face and resulted in the biggest public service strike in nearly two decades.”

“Up to that point, your government had refused to countenance talks in which the issue of pay was front and centre. It took more than 300,000 workers joining picket lines before you climbed down. Now, just a few weeks later, there will be another day of strike action because your government has failed to make a credible pay offer.”

The Dublin Bay North TD said, “this mess begs an important question: what is your government at? You have been all over the place all year. You have treated public service workers with barely disguised contempt, allowed the previous deal to expire, refused to discuss pay first and then you eventually climbed down on that. Your intransigence achieved absolutely nothing.”

O’Callaghan stated, “if there is another strike next week, it will be the fault of your government,” and remarked, “your government has spent more time on internal bickering and rivalries than addressing the country’s problems.”

In response, the Taoiseach took issue with O’Callaghan’s “barely disguised contempt” remarks.

The Taoiseach said that O’Callaghan’s language was “over the top,” and noted that he attended the Forsá annual conference this year as proof of his relationship with unions.

“We will have expanded the number of special needs assistants to about 23,000 by the end of this year. Is that treating the public service with contempt? We have expanded the public service very significantly over the past four to five years. Is that treating the public service with contempt?”

The Taoiseach insisted that his government were engaging with the unions in good faith.

“We will continue to engage in the talks in good faith with the trade unions. There is no need for a strike next week. With a will, there is a way to resolve this,” he said.

“You are characterising the government as not respecting the trade union movement and not engaging with it; I am just laying out the facts,” the Taoiseach stated.