LAST UPDATE | 28 Jun 2019
NEXT WEEK’S PLANNED three-day strike by healthcare support workers has been deferred following the intervention of the Labour Court.
The strike was due to take place on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday but has now been deferred pending a full Labour Court hearing that will take place next Wednesday.
Parties entered the Labour Court this morning with Siptu saying it would “respect what the Labour Court has to say”.
The strike was planned for 38 hospitals but will now not take place.
“At the request of the Labour Court, Siptu representatives have agreed to defer strike action scheduled to start next Tuesday to allow for a full hearing to take place with no preconditions,” the union’s divisional organiser Paul Bell said this afternoon.
The unity and strength of our members on picket lines this week has demonstrated our determination to achieve a just resolution to this dispute. Ultimately, our members will decide on the outcome of any recommendations that emerge from negotiations at the Labour Court, by way of a secret ballot.
The sides broke apart following a “tortuous process” in the Workplace Relations Commission yesterday that saw all issues discussed but no resolution.
The issue centres on a dispute between the workers and the HSE over what Siptu says is the failure to grant pay increases for its members, arising from a job evaluation scheme.
The workers affected include those in portering, household and catering services as well as employed as health care assistants, maternity care assistants, laboratory aides, chefs and surgical instrument technicians.
Speaking to RTÉ’s Morning Ireland earlier today, Siptu divisional organiser Paul Bell said there was “minimal movement” between the sides yesterday and that talks were therefore halted.
“Later on in the evening it was determined that the discussions were not going to bring the sides the together, that there was going to be no agreement and at that stage the officer of the WRC referred the matter to the Labour Court,” Bell said.
Bell says that the Department of the Public Expenditure and Reform’s interpretation of the job evaluation scheme “would not get the full benefit in arrears or any other payments due” to members.
The one-day action earlier this week saw patients across the country experiencing significant disruptions as 10,000 healthcare support workers went on strike.
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