Midwives hold off on industrial action to engage in talks

MIDWIVES at a private hospital have suspended proposed industrial action to facilitate talks.

The Irish Nurses’ Organisation (INO) confirmed yesterday that over 60 midwives working at the Bon Secours Hospital in Cork would not begin a work-to-rule next Tuesday, or stage a protest outside the hospital on the day.

The decision to suspend industrial action was taken after hospital management agreed to engage with the INO in a conciliation conference, under the auspices of the Labour Relations Commission, on a range of issues surrounding the hospital’s decision to close its obstetrics unit next March.