SIPTU pledges support for nurses’ strike

THE country’s largest union SIPTU has pledged the support of its members for a possible strike by two other unions in the country’s hospitals.

But SIPTU vice-president Brendan Hayes has also called on the Irish Nurses’ Organisation (INO), the Psychiatric Nurses Association (PNA) and health service managers to engage in talks aimed at resolving their dispute.

The significant intervention comes less than a week ahead of the proposed INO and PNA industrial action, which was notified to the Health Service Executive (HSE) at the start of the month.

The two unions are planning to begin with three lunchtime protests, which could begin as early as next Friday, but the action may escalate if no resolution is found.

The action is being taken in pursuit of the unions’ claims for a 10% pay rise, a shorter working week and a premium for members working in Dublin hospitals.

They have vowed that patient services will not be affected by industrial action and that emergency cover will be provided during the protests, set to involve their combined membership of around 40,000 nurses.

The support of SIPTU’s 40,000 health service members, including around 8,000 nurses, will mean they will not undertake the work of nurses engaged in industrial action. The move may have the most significant impact in the country’s psychiatric hospitals and in general hospitals in Cork, Galway and the north-west, where SIPTU represents equal or more nursing staff than the other two unions.

Mr Hayes said the move was being taken in response to requests from the INO and the PNA as a sign of nurses’ solidarity. SIPTU has made similar claims to those of their INO and PNA counterparts, but has done so in the public services benchmarking process from which the other two unions have withdrawn.

The SIPTU vice-president called on all sides to explore mechanisms through which the dispute can be avoided in the time available and to find a lasting solution to the nurses’ claims.

“The general public expects all those charged with the provision of the health services nationally and with managing industrial relations within the State to make every effort to find a solution to the issues in dispute before the health service becomes almost completely crippled. Patients deserve no less,” he said.

“The key players involved must act now and not simply wring their hands while they watch the countdown to crisis in the health services. The time available should be used sensibly and constructively by both sides to fashion a sensible and viable process to resolve the issues in dispute,” he said.

Mr Hayes said SIPTU is willing to participate in exploratory talks or in any process that will help develop mechanisms to resolve the dispute.