Siptu's Section 39 workers vote 'overwhelmingly' for industrial action

The results of a nationwide ballot returned a 96% vote in favour of taking industrial action in order to bring the issue to a head. File picture: Daragh McSweeney/Provision

Siptu workers in Section 39 organisations have voted “overwhelmingly” to strike over their long-running pay dispute with the Government.

The results of a nationwide ballot returned a 96% vote in favour of taking industrial action in order to bring the issue to a head.  Siptu said it will now bring the mandate it has received from that vote to crisis talks at the Workplace Relations Commission on Monday, March 3.

The union’s healthcare sector organiser Damien Ginley said the vote “marks an important step in our fight for pay justice for our members in Section 39 organisations”, adding that the mandate for industrial action delivered by the voting members is “strong and clear”.

“The ball is now firmly in the hands of the Government,” he said, adding that the State “has an opportunity to do the right thing” at next week’s WRC meeting.

Industrial relations issues involving Section 39 workers have dragged on for many years over the State’s failure to implement pay restoration for that cohort.

Section 39 workers are those employees of voluntary healthcare organisations which, though generally funded by the HSE to a large extent, are not operated directly by the health service.

While public sector healthcare workers who had their pay cut following the economic crash at the end of the 2010s have since had their remuneration restored, that same restoration was never applied to Section 39 workers.

Thursday’s ballot results followed the Government’s perceived reneging on an October 2023 deal to restore the pay and conditions of the Section 39 workers, with that deal itself having resulted from a previous threat to strike.

Section 39 worker Martha Buckley noted on Thursday that then Taoiseach Simon Harris had given “a commitment in the Dáil that the Government would mandate department officials to implement fully the agreement for pay justice”.

“We have waited for this clear instruction to be honoured,” she said. Repeat meetings at the WRC last year between the Government and the unions aimed at putting that deal into action broke down without resolution.

Next Monday’s meeting was recently instigated by new disabilities minister Norma Foley when it became clear that Siptu was set to ballot for industrial action.

The meeting is expected to be attended by the various healthcare unions and Ms Foley’s department, along with officials from the Department of Health.

On Thursday night, a Government spokesperson said: "The Government’s priority is to protect these vital services for those who rely on them while ensuring sustainable employment for the dedicated workers who provide quality supports and services. All staff in these sectors should be fairly paid and appropriately recognised for the difficult work they do. 

"No one wants a strike and experience tells us that dialogue is the path to a resolution. We encourage all parties to focus on engagement through the available channels."

The threat to strike comes at a difficult time for the HSE, after the Government moved to slash the health budget after years of overruns. That budget shortfall led to an initial recruitment embargo across the health service, followed by the implementation of the HSE’s Pay and Numbers strategy, which saw many unfilled health worker positions rendered obsolete.