Workers Solidarity Movement

The CPSU activist group have produced a leaflet calling on members of the CPSU to vote No to the public sector deal.  "Many public sector workers have been shocked and angered that such a deal was agreed in the first place, some general secretaries including our own tried to present the deal as some kind of “victory”. Of course we can now see clearly that this is a rotten deal." 

Public Sector Deal
Defend our jobs pay and conditions
Vote No

CPSU members are being asked to vote on a deal that was agreed by the general secretaries of the public sctor trade unions and subsequently rejected by many of their executive committees.
However many public sector workers have been shocked and angered that such a deal was agreed in the first place, some general secretaries including our own tried to present the deal as some kind of “victory”. Of course we can now see clearly that this is a rotten deal.
This deal that accepts the governments’ plan for €16 billion in public spending cuts and was agreed on the same day the government gave Anglo Irish Bank another €12 billion, with Alan Dukes saying that they might need another €10 billion on top of that!
We must now decisively reject this deal and send a clear message to the trade union leaders that we are not prepared to accept the governments’ plan to make the public sector pay for the economic crisis.

No guarantees on pay
This deal does not guarantee any reversal of our pay cuts including the pension levy, but does guarantee a pay freeze for the next four years. Therefore our living standards will drop as planned extra taxes, increase in mortgage interest-rates and inflation, will reduce our real pay. If the economic situation gets worse the deal allows the government to introduce more pay cuts.

Thousands of job losses
The union leaders boast that there will be no compul- sory redundancies. Yet, the embargo on recruitment will lead to up to 20,000 job losses. Those of us who remain will have to deal with greatly increased work- loads and services to the public will suffer.

Terms & Conditions
This agreement allows for all our terms to be reviewed and revised. The deal specifically mentions changing public servants contracts of employment. You can also be redeployed up to 45 kms from your present work- place and into a different department or even sector and if you refuse to move you can be sacked!

No strike deal
This agreement not only has a no-strike clause and a ban on any form of industrial action related to the a greement, it also has a binding arbitration clause. This means that a third party will makes decisions when disputes arise and we will have no right to reject those decisions. The power of the CPSU to represent you will be dramatically reduced if this deal is accepted.

Pension rights
It has been claimed that this deal protects your pension however this is simply not true and pensions will be reviewed under the terms of this agreement. The government wants to cut our pensions and make them more like what exists in the private sector. This deal opens up this possibility.

JOIN THE CPSU ACTIVIST GROUP

What happens if we vote no
If we vote no we won’t be alone. There is a growing mood of opposition across the public sector against this deal. A no vote would mean that the CPSU could join with other public sector unions who also reject the deal and organise a campaign to stop the governments’ attacks.

What’s the alternative
The alternative to this historic attack on public sec- tor workers and public services is to fight the governments’ agenda. The alternative to making the public servants pay for the crisis is to make the rich pay. If big business paid tax at the same level as PAYE workers the government would not have to make any cuts in public spending. The top 1% richest in the country own 34% of the wealth, yet most of them pay less tax than you. Let those whose greed fuelled the property bubble and subsequent crash take their losses.
If the 300,000 public sector workers took part in a determined campaign of escalating industrial action, then this weak and hated government could be defeated. The loss of pay during these strikes would be short term pain in return for the long term gain of defeating this rotten deal. A no vote will send a strong message to all the political parties that no matter who is in government - public sector workers are not a pushover and will not accept these attacks.

Join the CPSU Activist group
We are a group of CPSU members who have been campaigning against social partnership, for greater democracy within the union and for a fighting trade union movement. This deal shows that the majority of trade union leaders are out of touch with reality and should be replaced.
We are campaigning for a no vote and would appeal to you to contact us to see how we can work together to mobilise all CPSU members to
reject this deal.
We must reclaim our union for the members if it is to properly defend our jobs, wages and conditions, and I would appeal to you to contact us today to find out how you can get involved.
Terry Kelleher, CPSU Trustee (personal capacity) contact me at 087 2857665 or
e-mail: tfkelleher@imagine.ie
CPSU demonstration against pension levy
FOR MORE INFORMATION CPSUACTIVIST@GMAIL.COM

Source: Leaflet produced by the CPSU Activist group
The leaflet can be downloaded here.