Public sector union Fórsa says the protection of current hybrid working arrangements will be one of its key asks of the next government with general secretary saying on Thursday improvements to the way people work made during the pandemic are being allowed to slip away.
At an event to launch its election manifesto, the union says stronger regulation should be put in place to protect people’s ability to spend at least a significant portion of their week working remotely where practicable and it wants the government to agree to trial a four day working week in areas where it might work.
“The way in which work is organised has changed enormously since the start of the pandemic,” said Fórsa general secretary Kevin Callinan. “We’ve had remote working, blended working, hybrid working, whatever we want to call it, and the way in which that has operated across the economy, I think, has been transformative.
“But let’s be honest, there is clear pull back into the office, you can see that in the traffic every morning. And I think we need to appreciate the benefits that were achieved.
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“And we make no apology for putting the question of the four day week on the table,” he said. “It’s almost a century since we saw dramatic changes in working time and it’s only reasonable that we would look now and see, can we improve how work is organised.
“What we’re talking about involved 100 per cent of the pay, 80 per cent of the time and 100 perc cent of the productivity. But obviously that’s only going to happen if we pilot how these things can be organised. Nobody is for one minute saying that there aren’t some areas that will be far more problematic than others tbut you have to start somewhere.
“There are examples within the private sector where the four day week has been successfully trialled. All we’re saying is that we want the incoming government, to commit to sitting down with us and agreeing areas where we can trial it in the public sector”.
The union said other key priorities during the term of the next government would be pay increases that go above the rate of inflation and investment in public infrastructure to address current problem areas, particularly in areas like health and housing.
Fórsa says pay this is a particular concern for young workers in the public sector with many saying remuneration for entry grades and slow increment related pay progression make issues like childcare and housing a huge challenge for many.
A survey involving just over 20,000 of the union’s members carried out by research company Amárach found 85 per cent said pay would be a factor in how they vote, 81 per cent would back candidates favouring increase spending on health and social services and 64 per cent said affordable childcare was one of their key priorities.
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