Irish public sector workers strike over pay deal delays

Summarised from 2 outlets · Updated 14 Oct, 17:33 · Archive

Hundreds of thousands of Irish teachers, doctors and civil servants have walked off the job in a 24-hour strike.

Hundreds of thousands of Irish teachers, doctors and civil servants walked off the job on Wednesday in a 24-hour strike. Most schools, colleges and universities closed and thousands of medical appointments were cancelled because of the industrial action. The strike was called to pressure Prime Minister Micheál Martin to intervene in pay negotiations, which have been stalled since June.

Kevin Callinan, general secretary of Forsa, the main public employees union, said the government had failed to address workers' pay demands. 'The government needs to respond to our members today, right across the country,' he said at Mater Hospital in Dublin. 'The struggles they're having with the cost of living, the sense of a breach of trust that's happened with the Department of Public Expenditure. They're the issues that need to be faced up to by the government now.'

Consumer price inflation in Ireland accelerated to 4.1% in the 12 months through September, the highest rate since January 2024. Housing costs jumped 9.5% in the period and transportation expenses rose 7.5%. Conor Carroll, a hospital porter at St. Michael's Hospital in Dun Laoghaire, south of Dublin, said the dispute centred on the cost of living. 'Every time you go to the supermarket you feel it,' he said. 'Everything's gone up, even the cost of eating.'

How it is being reported

• Irish public sector workers strike, leading to school closures and canceled medical appointmentsHundreds of thousands of Irish teachers, doctors and civil servants have walked off the job.News4Jax · 14 Oct, 15:53
• Irish public sector workers strike, leading to school closures and canceled medical appointmentsHundreds of thousands of Irish teachers, doctors and civil servants have walked off the job.Clickorlando · 14 Oct, 15:53

In this story: Micheál Martin · Kevin Callinan · Forsa · Ireland · Dublin

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