Irish public sector workers strike for first time since 2009 over pay deadlock

Much of Ireland's public sector ground to a halt on Wednesday as workers staged the country's first widespread strike since the height of ‌the financial crisis in 2009, in a dispute with the government over the terms of pay talks.

Around 300,000 teachers, health workers, civil servants and other public sector employees were due to picket workplaces including parliament, after trade unions and ministers ‌failed for months to agree on the basis for negotiations on public sector pay rises. Unions insist pay must ‌outstrip inflation and be addressed before other issues, such as productivity, citing cost-of-living pressures on workers. Ministers have rejected those conditions saying they represent a break with previous agreements.

"Our members are angry. We have young teachers who can't afford to repair their cars because they don't ⁠have enough money. ​We have people commuting ⁠100 kilometres because of the housing crisis," said Michael Gillespie, general secretary of the Teachers' Union of Ireland. "They don't feel the government is ⁠taking into account the cost of living crisis that they're experiencing every day."

A series of pay agreements has maintained industrial ​peace since the deep pay cuts that prompted the 2009 walkout. While Ireland's economy and public finances are ⁠among the strongest in Europe, high prices have eroded many of those gains. Union leaders also expressed anger when fuel protesters won concessions from ⁠government ​by blockading oil infrastructure in April, warning at the time that their bargaining strategy would reflect the "new rules of engagement".

Essential services, including emergency hospital departments, will be maintained on Wednesday, while public transport will operate as normal. ⁠Fire and ambulance services will run a reduced service, and hospitals have warned of "significant and widespread" disruption, with thousands ⁠of procedures cancelled. "It's deeply disappointing ⁠and regrettable that the trade union leaders have decided not to engage in substantive talks," Public Expenditure Minister Jack Chambers told national broadcaster RTE.

A second strike day is scheduled ‌for Wednesday, October ‌21, if the impasse is not broken.