Workers vote to strike if job and wage cuts proceed

HEALTH service and local government workers have voted to strike if the Government makes any attempt to cut their pay or numbers as part of the economic recovery efforts.

The workers, members of the IMPACT trade union, made the decision at their national delegate conferences in Castlebar yesterday morning.

Rank and file members of the union made it clear they would not accept any diminution of their terms and conditions in order to prop up an economy suffering due to the action of others.

Michelle Geraghty of the union’s Tipperary North branch said: “We know we did not cause the current economic crisis. We blame the fat cat bankers for their greed and covetousness over the last number of years and more importantly ignoring the inadequacies of our politicians.

“ They [the Government] have steered this country into the worst economic crisis in decades.

“Already we have had indirect wage cuts forced upon us. We reject these cuts or any other sneaky cuts to our pay packets. We must stand up to this Government together in a unified and committed voice and say ‘no more’.”

Maeve McCarthy Barrett of the Cork branch called for an active campaign against any job or wage cuts in the public sector.

“The current economic crisis was not caused by workers but by unrestrained greed, particularly from the financial and property sectors. These have lead to the race to the bottom for workers and the near collapse of the economy.”

She also called on the union to demand an Irish Congress of Trade Unions-led national campaign, up to and including industrial action “bringing public and private sector workers together to defend jobs, wages and public services“. Both calls were backed unanimously at the conference.

The Health Service Executive bore the brunt of the workers’ anger at the conference.

Mary Jane O’Brien from the Wicklow branch said a 25% cut in travel and subsistence allowances meant child protection workers and other professionals now had only limited subsidised mileage each month in order to travel to and with the children at risk.

Health and welfare division national secretary Kevin Callinan said hospital and community service managers had been left “horrified” at the HSE’s “cavalier” approach to service delivery.

“Services are viewed by these people with a military mindset as a commodity that has to be rationed,” he said.

“As the draft HSE circular makes clear to managers trying to run crucial services on the ground, no matter how desperate the need for emergency staff cover, they risk disciplinary action if they don’t obey orders.

“If your son or daughter presents at a hospital or clinic in need of emergency help, but is unfortunate enough to arrive on an evening when they are short of staff, the local manager has to choose whether to get the extra member of staff they need, knowing that they a liable to be disciplined if they do.”

“It’s the inevitable result of the HSE’s culture of valuing financial bureaucracy over everything else – including patients in need,” Mr Callinan said.