SIPTU members in the pubic service have welcomed the Government’s decision to delete a section of the Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest (FEMPI) Act 2009 which gave public service employers the ability to cut workers’ core pay and adjust working hours without agreement. SIPTU Public Administration and Communities Division Organiser, Gene Mealy, said: “The cabinet decision yesterday (Wednesday, 29th October) to delete this coercive clause in the FEMPI legislation is welcomed by SIPTU members throughout the public service.“SIPTU has always opposed the FEMPI legislation which provided unacceptable powers to government ministers to unilaterally vary workers’ terms and conditions of employment. The decision to begin the unwinding of this punitive legislation will provide confidence to our members working in local authorities, state agencies and the education sector before the start of pay recovery negotiations which are expected to begin early next year".He added: “The beginning of the repealing of FEMPI is an important first step in ensuring workers providing vital public services experience a dividend from the economic recovery and the reform process”.The change agreed by Government involves the deletion of Section 2B of the Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest (FEMPI) Act 2009, which was introduced as a limited contingency measure to the legislation in 2013.
SIPTU public service members welcome decision to delete coercive FEMPI clause
