Nurses will protest and strike in three weeks

NURSES yesterday served 21 days’ strike notice on the Health Service Executive (HSE) after voting overwhelmingly to fight for better pay and working hours.

Both the Irish Nurses Organisation (INO) and the Psychiatric Nurses Association (PNA), together representing more than 40,000 nurses and midwives, reserved their right to commence any element of their action plan without further notice.

INO members supported the ballot for industrial action by 96% while PNA members were 97% in favour.

Any element of the action plan that includes a nationwide work to rule or short duration rolling work stoppages will be triggered when the notice expires.

INO general secretary Liam Doran said that the campaign was constructed so as to minimise disruption to patient services and maximise damage to health service management who have failed completely to recognise nurses’ legitimate claims.

And, he pointed out, nurses would only provide emergency cover if payment was agreed in advance.

Nurses are seeking a 10% pay rise and a 35-hour working week, along with other claims.

Last year, the Labour Court rejected nurses’ claims and told their representative bodies that they should use the benchmarking process.

Protests will be held at Cork University Hospital on Monday, February 26; at University College Hospital, Galway and the Regional Hospital, Limerick on Friday, March 2 and at the Mater Hospital on Friday, March 9.

The unions will be inviting local TDs and Senators to attend the protests and declare their position on the campaign. The INO and PNA said they remained available for immediate discussions with the HSE.

Mr Doran said the unions’ mandate reflected the deep anger and frustration felt by nurses and midwives over their treatment at the hands of health service management, who continued to look after themselves.

“Our 40,000 plus members have spoken and it is time the Government and health service employers listened,” he declared.

PNA general secretary, Des Kavanagh, said the ballot confirmed nurses’ determination to make progress on issues that had been outstanding for years.

The HSE said it was disappointed at the joint decision by the nurses’ organisations to serve notice of industrial action on the authority and again urged the unions to accept the Labour Court’s recommendations.

HSE Employers’ Agency assistant chief executive, Brendan Mulligan, said, “Even at this late stage we would urge the unions to accept the Labour Court recommendation and the terms of the new Social Partnership Agreement.”