The Civil, Public and Services Union (CPSU) warned the Government yesterday it could block the decentralisation project because of a row over promotions.
The Department of Finance is seeking to restrict promotions in the Civil Service to staff who are willing to move to a decentralised office.
The union said yesterday the department would have to drop the proposal to secure the union's continued support for the programme.
The union's deputy general secretary, Rosaleen Glackin, told delegates at its annual conference in Killarney that the Government should be under no illusions about the strength of opinion within the CPSU about the matter. "While we have been strong supporters of decentralisation, we will not see our Dublin members, who have built their lives in the capital, left behind," she said. The CPSU's support for the project was "absolutely conditional" on securing promotional opportunities for those remaining in Dublin.
Other unions have also condemned the proposal, which was tabled by the department at a meeting in December. It has since been "parked" to allow talks on other decentralisation issues to continue.
Anger within the CPSU about the issue is particularly significant, as it is probably the union most enthusiastic about decentralisation generally. Its members, who fill the lowest-paid clerical grades in the Civil Service, are younger on average than those in other unions and, therefore, less likely to have put down "roots" in the capital.
Lower pay rates also make housing and childcare in Dublin unaffordable for many CPSU members.
In contrast with other positions to be decentralised, applications for the grades represented by the CPSU exceed the number of places available, Ms Glackin told the conference. Some 4,500 CPSU members already work in decentralised offices and a further 1,000 have applied to move from Dublin under the current programme.
However, Ms Glackin said the union had to represent the interests of three groups equally: those who already lived and worked outside Dublin, members who wished to relocate and those seeking to remain in the capital. "The Department of Finance needs to hear it loud and clear from the conference that decentralisation cannot and will not be achieved on the backs of our Dublin members," she said.
Delegates also heard yesterday that talks between the CPSU and Impact on a possible merger were continuing, with the assistance of outside facilitation.
