Schools and hospital face disruption as unions escalate action
Schools and hospitals are expected to be worst hit as union chiefs escalate a fight to reverse pay cuts with a series of work stoppages.
The Irish Congress of Trade Unions has pledged to ratchet up industrial action in the civil and public service through tactical strikes.
Primary schools could close for half or full days on a rolling or regional basis, while nurses will threaten to walk off wards.
Peter McLoone, head of the Impact trade union and chairman of the Congress public services committee, said stoppages would vary across each sector and would be decided in the coming weeks.
“We have always said that escalation of the industrial action was inevitable unless there was progress towards a settlement,” he said.
“There has been no progress and the action is now going to escalate to include the withdrawal of labour.”
Individual unions will decide how to increase action on top of work-to-rules, which have been in force since January 25 in an attempt to hit the Government without causing massive disruption to the public.
The Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) said it is considering rolling work stoppages and hopes to meet representatives of other health workers on Thursday to finalise plans.
Sheila Nunan, of the Irish National Teachers’ Organisation (INTO), revealed pupils could suffer half-day or full-day closures.
She said unions had always said protests would be escalated unless there was a credible response from government.
“So far there has been no response from government,” Ms Nunan said. “This has increased not dissipated the anger felt by teachers.”
Fine Gael education spokesman Brian Hayes called for the Government to strike a new deal with teachers – who he also asked not to go on strike.
“Whoever is responsible for the mess this country is in, it’s certainly not those students who are in our schools,” said Mr Hayes.
“Now is not the time for industrial action in education. It will adversely affect students, many of whom are preparing for exams, and will damage the support that teachers should have in the wider society.”
The Congress said public servants’ gross incomes have been cut by up to 14% in the last year through pay cuts and the pension levy, and rejected the Government’s claim that there is no alternative to pay cuts.
Mr McLoone revealed the campaign was aimed to get a negotiated solution to reverse pay cuts, protect future pay and pensions and avoid compulsory redundancies.
“The public service transformation proposals, put forward by the unions and rejected by government last December, could be back on the table if the Government was prepared to say pay cuts could be reversed over time as savings are made through transformation,” Mr McLoone said.
“But the longer the industrial action goes on, the harder it will be to convince our members of the merits of such a deal or the Government’s capacity to deliver it in a fair and effective way.”
