Student nurses and midwives vent fury over pay cut plans

OVER 4,000 student nurses and midwives staged lunchtime protests at hospitals across the country yesterday over Government plans to cut their pay.

The action at 13 hospitals is part of the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation’ s (INMO) campaign to reverse pay cuts to for 4th year trainees working on wards during a nine-month placement.

The protests were attended by pre-registration nurses and midwives and students from all four years of the under-graduate programme, and supported by qualified colleagues.

The INMO stressed there was no disruption to patient services at any of the hospitals where protests were held.

The hour-long protests coincided with a hearing at the Labour Relations Commission attended by union leaders and representatives of the Department of Health and Health Service Executive. The matter has now been referred to the Labour Court.

A protest march and mass rally has been planned for next Wednesday in Dublin, when a letter will be delivered to the Department of Health calling for the incoming minister to reverse the decision.

Up to now, students were paid 80% of staff salary during their nine-month placement in hospitals as part of their four-year degree programme. Last December, however, the Government decided to phase out the payment and abolish it in 2015.

The INMO, Psychiatric Nurses Association and SIPTU, have requested meetings with the leaders of the five political parties, asking them to confirm that they will reverse the pay cut if they are in government.

The response from each party will be conveyed to the 6,000 members involved ahead of the election.

If there is no resolution, all 4th year pre-registration nurses/midwives will be balloted for a withdrawal of labour with industrial action commencing in early March.

“The protests were massively well-supported by all of the students. There is a tremendous understanding of the issues,” said INMO general secretary, Liam Doran.

“I think people understand that, as bad as the general economic situation is, these young people cannot be singled out and be threatened with slave labour,” he said.

One of the student nurses protesting outside Cork University Hospital yesterday was Deirdre Maloney (22) from Ballylanders, Co Limerick, who said she needed her full pay to rent a room in Cork while she completed her studies.

“It’s pretty ridiculous when you think that by 2014 the pay will be so low for a student nurse entering first year that they would earn more on the dole,” she said.

“We only found out about this two weeks before our placement began,” said Ms Maloney, who pointed out that student nurses did not get an opportunity to save during the summer months because of the course schedule.

Chairperson of the INMO’s Cork HSE branch, Jean O’Connell said the pay cuts would place nurses under a heavy debt burden.

Nurses and midwives last went on strike over pay and conditions in May 2007 but called off the action just days ahead of the last general election.