Pobal Workers Escalate Industrial Action

Workers at Pobal are escalating their protest from October 30th due to management refusing to implement a 2% pay increase that was due in March 2025. The employer has also demanded additional duties in return for the pay increase.

A recent ballot saw a 99% of workers vote in favor of industrial action and 120 workers will be taking action. These workers work at Pobal’s Better Start programme.

The protest escalation will mean that workers will stop participating in work Teams meetings and will instead prioritise community-based work with children. But strike action is needed to force management to give workers what they deserve.

There is a work-to-rule already in place, which includes confining working to a seven-hour day and not providing cover for annual, maternity, or sick leave. Strike action is the next step, not just adding slightly more to work to rule.

Worker Paula Gavin said: “This dispute has been ongoing since 2019. We go above and beyond our work, which is more than just a job for many of us. We’re continuously upskilling as our roles continue to expand, yet we’re being denied the pay raise we’re due and the grade correction we deserve. We’re determined to keep going with this industrial action until there’s a full resolution of this long-standing dispute.”

The union leaders often try to limit struggle as use it as a mere means to get into negotiations, often pulling actions on measly promises. A strike would have huge public support and could quickly bring about a resolution.

Strike action can win for these important workers. While workers suffer from an escalating cost of living crisis the CEO of Pobal is paid €178,995. Pobal was set up by the Irish state in 1992 and manages funding to many social projects.

This model is problematic as Pobal is a not-for-profit company with charitable status that manages programmes on behalf of the Irish Government and the EU. It acts as a funding middle man.

The workers at Pobal take their work seriously and want to make a difference.

We need to support their industrial action while we continue the fight for organisations that are under workers’ control and not run by wasteful government appointed boards.

A socialist, planned economy, would see workers like these control their own destiny while we eliminate poverty and exclusion once and for all.