Redundancy deal ‘too little and too short a deadline’
IMPACT, which represents a large percentage of the administration and managerial grades, said it would be demanding a better remuneration package for workers who choose to avail of the voluntary redundancy. The union said the proposed payments of three week’s pay plus statutory redundancy pay for each year served, with a ceiling of two-years’ pay, was below the established norm for staff in publicly funded bodies.
It also pointed out the HSE timetable – with a closing date for applications of November 19 and a November 30 deadline for acceptance – breaches a statutory requirement for a 30-day consultation period in collective redundancy situations, during which the terms of the package and alternatives to redundancies must be considered. It is likely the union will look for third party conciliation on the amount, a move which will be at odds with the deadlines set.
The union’s national secretary for health Louise O’Donnell said that timeframe was far too tight. “People are only being given two weeks to make up their minds whether or not to take the package,” she said. “The type of decision required cannot be taken in a two week period.”
Both IMPACT and SIPTU also questioned how the HSE would function if up to 5,000 people left in such a short period.
“If you have no plan as to how you deal with the consequences of that, I would say it is a very worrying scenario,” said SIPTU vice president Patricia King.
Paul Bell, who is acting head of the union’s health division said SIPTU would not accept the back-filling of the service by contract or agency staff.
“These cuts are not in breach of the Croke Park Agreement as they are voluntary but they are dictated solely by budgetary considerations rather than the needs of patients and those who depend on a properly functioning health service,” he said.
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