THROUGHOUT West Cork, Fórsa and Siptu members have formed picket lines as part of a one-day strike claiming the government has done nothing to resolve the escalating cost of living crisis.
Staff at Skibbereen courthouse, as well as nurses at Clonakilty Community Hospital and Bantry General Hospital, are among some of the public protests taking place today.
It is the first official day of action in what could yet be a long-running dispute ahead of government pay talks.
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SIPTU deputy general secretary, Adrian Kane, said: “The €1.2 billion announced in the Budget for public sector pay claims is an offer of a pay increase of approximately 2.5% in 2027 once pension costs and previous commitments are included."
Union representatives say the cost of living crisis is just one of the struggles facing workers in the public and private sectors, and that other staffing issues, and work conditions, need to be considered.
They say their members, working in hospitals, ambulance services, universities, fire services and State agencies had no option but to take part in the largest mobilisation of workers in Ireland in a generation.
Vox Pops being carried out by The Southern Star show, however, that workers are adamant that the cost of living crisis is being driven by the lack of housing, high fuel and electricity costs, as well as the hike in price of groceries, services and other household costs.
The level of anger is clear in communities throughout West Cork, where court staff, civil servants, hospital works and members of the teaching profession, including special needs assistants, have vowed that this will be just the first in a number of unpaid days of action until the government commits to agreeing to offset inflation.
Siptu's Adrian Kane said that with annual inflation currently running at 4.1%, the proposed 2.5% in 2027 provides "no credible starting point for talks aimed at protecting living standards. Suppression of public service pay provides a benchmark for employers to suppress wages in other sectors, while doing nothing to resolve a cost of living crisis."
