Howlin to public sector workers: If you swallow hard and vote yes, we'll not be coming back for more
The Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform Brendan Howlin has confirmed that compulsory redundancies are not part of the proposed deal on an extension to the Croke Park agreement.
He also encouraged public sector workers to "swallow hard" and vote for the new Croke Park agreement, saying the Government would "not be coming back for more" if this agreement is voted through.
The deal, if passed, will come into effect from July and run until 2016.
"If you consider this (and) swallow hard - I know it's not easy - and vote for this, we'll not be coming back again and we can plan our recovery over the next three years," he said.
He added that "hopefully the next time we sit down to discuss pay and conditions with public servants, it will be on the basis of a recovered economy and we can talk about improvements in pay and conditions. That's our objective."
Trade unions and the Government will today begin considering the new agreement, when they receive the finalised copy of the draft deal from the LRC.
The controversial agreement will see pay cuts of 10% for those earning more than €185,000 and 5.5% for those earning more than €65,000 a year, as well as longer working hours and lower overtime payments.
