Public sector workers will get COLA top-up

Public sector workers will receive a top-up in their collective agreements to ensure they receive the full COLA sum.

In a joint statement between the Office of the Prime Minister, For.U.M, GWU, UHM and CMTU, it was confirmed that workers in the public administration will receive a top-up in their salary to reflect the discrepancy between the financial package in their collective agreement and the COLA mechanism.

The top-up includes a €6.41 weekly increase in the collective agreements to reflect the full COLA amount of €12.81. All workers in the public sector will be entitled to this top-up.

The separate relativity mechanism for public officials will be discussed in the first quarter of 2024, as the collective agreement will expire by the end of next year.

The COLA + Relativity mechanism was first announced in 2021 but officially unveiled during the 2022 budget speech, the additional mechanism was designed to ensure that workers in both the Public Service and various public entities could maintain their standard of living by adjusting their wages in line with inflation and other economic factors.

Unions were initially concerned because the COLA + Relativity mechanism was not mentioned in the Budget 2024. They had requested an emergency meeting with the Prime Minister on the matter.