The Strike Ballot

I mentioned a couple of weeks ago that the Irish Federation of University Teachers (IFUT), of which I am a member, was planning a ballot on industrial action. The reason for the ballot is that the Public Service Agreement, covering pay and working conditions for all public service workers in Ireland, lapsed at the end of June this year (2026) and there is currently no pay settlement for the second half of this year or next year. Salaries have fallen behind inflation under the existing Agreement and some important commitment have not yet been implemented. The Government does not give the impression of being serious about negotiations on these matters. The ballot opened today, September 1st 2026, and as soon as the link for the electronic vote arrived in my inbox I clicked it and voted ‘YES’, i.e. in favour of industrial action. Similar ballots are taking place across all the public service unions. Yesterday, it was revealed that Ireland’s largest public sector union, SIPTU, has voted…