Greater trade union movement key to ending dispute

ANNOUNCING their support for the nurses in their pay dispute, the Association of Secondary Teachers’ Ireland (ASTI) yesterday said the power to resolve the matter lies with the greater trade union movement.

The suggestion was made during an emergency debate offering the ASTI’s support of the right of the Irish Nurses’ Organisation (INO) and Psychiatric Nurses’ Association (PNA) to negotiate their pay and working hours claim outside the public service benchmarking process.

The motion passed unanimously by almost 500 delegates stated that the deficiencies and inflexibility of the benchmarking arbitration process must not be used to isolate, obstruct and demean a caring profession.

Dublin South delegate Bernard Lynch said the issue at stake was much wider than the nurses’ claims, but also about the quality of the under-funded public service.

“The damage done in our schools to the education of our children is every bit as destructive and chaotic and catastrophic for society as the damage to patients on hospital trolleys. It’s not as visible when you have children marginalised in the corner of every classroom in this country because their special needs are not being met, but it’s every bit as damaging,” he said.

He called on the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU) to do what unions are supposed to do and support the nurses in pursuing their claim.

ASTI rejoined ICTU a year ago, after withdrawing its membership during its own pay dispute in 2000.

“The biggest obstacle to the nurses getting their pay claim properly dealt with is not the Government, who would settle in the morning because of the general election.

“It’s not the state of the public finances which have never been better or it’s not the media. It’s ICTU, who are supporting pay deals that are destroying health and education, driving Irish teachers and nurses out of their professions,” Mr Lynch said.

Paddy Mulcahy, a member of the ASTI’s standing committee which proposed the motion, said the intention was not to make the case for their colleagues in the nursing unions.

“It’s about one group of workers supporting the right of another group of workers to negotiate a fundamental right of any union. Some might say they were silent during our dispute, so why should I be silent now,” he said.

“Let us show the trade unions within ICTU the real meaning of trade union solidarity and remind all union members of the motto of Congress: “An injury to one is an injury to all.”,” he said.