爱尔兰近17年首次大规模公职罢工在即：约30万人10月14日停工一天
都柏林——爱尔兰大部分公共部门即将举行近17年来首次大规模罢工。路透社10月12日报道，工会方面拒绝了政府在最后时刻提出的挽回方案后，罢工确定将按计划进行；这将是自2009年金融危机高峰期以来，爱尔兰公共部门首次出现这类全国性停工。
约30万名教师、医护人员、公务员及其他公共部门雇员计划在10月14日（周三）举行一天罢工，起因是工会与政府就公共部门加薪谈判的启动方式陷入僵局。数月来，工会一直主张：受生活成本压力影响，必须先谈定薪酬条款，再讨论生产率等其他议题；政府部长们拒绝这一前提，认为它打破了以往协议的做法。
公共支出部长杰克·钱伯斯（Jack Chambers）10月12日（周一）致信工会领袖，敦促推迟罢工，称薪酬问题可以而且应当作为优先事项，与其他议题一并讨论。爱尔兰工会大会公共服务委员会主席则回应称，工会领袖看不出这与钱伯斯此前的立场有何变化，也不足以构成推迟罢工的理由。
工会要求，任何新协议都要弥补过去几年工资与通胀之间的差距，并确保协议期内工资不落后于生活水平涨幅。上一份薪酬协议已于今年6月底到期。自2009年因严厉减薪引发罢工以来，一系列加薪安排维持了劳资和平；尽管爱尔兰经济与公共财政在欧洲名列前茅，高物价仍让许多雇员不满。
罢工当天，医院急诊等基本服务将维持运行，公共交通也不受影响；但消防与救护服务将缩减，医院方面警告会出现大范围影响，常规手术与诊疗将被取消。第二天罢工已定在10月21日（周三）。
来源：据路透社10月12日都柏林报道。
Ireland Faces First Major Public Sector Strike in Nearly Two Decades as 300,000 Workers Plan One-Day Walkout
DUBLIN — Much of Ireland's public sector is set to go on strike for the first time since the height of the country's financial crisis in 2009, after trade unions rejected a late bid by the government to avert the stoppage, Reuters reported on October 12.
Some 300,000 teachers, health workers, civil servants and other public workers plan to hold a one-day strike on Wednesday, October 14, over a deadlock with the government on the basis for entering talks on public sector pay rises. For months, unions have argued that pay terms must be agreed before other issues, such as productivity, are discussed, citing cost-of-living pressures. Ministers have rejected that condition, saying it represents a break from previous deals.
In a letter to union leaders on Monday urging them to postpone the action, Public Expenditure Minister Jack Chambers said pay issues can and should be discussed as a priority alongside other matters. The chair of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions public services committee responded that union leaders could not see how this represented any change in Chambers' position or provided a basis for postponement.
Unions want any new deal to cover the gap between pay and inflation over previous years and to ensure wages do not fall behind living standards over the deal's duration. The last pay deal expired at the end of June. A series of pay increases has kept industrial peace since the harsh pay cuts that spurred the 2009 walkout, and while Ireland's economy and public finances are among the healthiest in Europe, high prices have frustrated many workers.
Essential services such as emergency hospital departments will be maintained on Wednesday and public transport will be unaffected. Fire and ambulance services will, however, run a reduced service, and hospitals have warned of significant and widespread disruption, with routine procedures cancelled. A second strike day is scheduled for Wednesday, October 21.
Source: Reuters, Dublin, October 12.
图片来源：都柏林伦斯特宫（爱尔兰议会所在地），David Kernan 摄，CC BY 4.0（Wikimedia Commons）
