A settlement offer has been agreed between the Public Service Association (PSA) and Ministry of Justice and will now go to the PSA’s 2000 members - about 60% of the Ministry’s total workforce - to be voted on.

"The PSA bargaining team is satisfied that after two long months of industrial action a level of settlement that our members deserve has been reached," said Glenn Barclay, PSA national secretary.

"While we accept this has been a difficult situation because of historic under-resourcing at the Ministry, the ways in which pay systems were being unfairly framed and the persistently low pay on offer to our members was unacceptable.

"Now that terms of settlement have been signed, full details of the offer will go out for ratification by PSA members across Ministry of Justice sites around the country to be voted on before the end of the working year," said Glenn Barclay.

"Our members took extended strike action as a last resort. Our members have acted responsibly throughout and have been widely supported from within the Courts and other workplaces they do so much to keep running, as well as from their fellow PSA members across the union and from other unions. I can’t commend them enough for their resilience and solidarity".

The main elements of the settlement offer are:

- An across-the-board pay increase for July 2018 to June 2020 (amounting to 4% across two years)

- Injection of more money to remedy historically low pay rates

- A lump sum payment that covers back pay and wages lost from strike action

- Movement away from the Ministry’s performance pay matrix, supported by more funding to support transition to an agreed step-based pay scale and annual pay progression

- A commitment to a Gender Pay Gap Action Plan Working Group

ENDS

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