MEMBERS OF THE Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) have deferred a planned work-to-rule.
The nurses and midwives had been due to take part in the industrial action on Tuesday, but have postponed it pending a ballot. The executive council of the INMO unanimously decided, following talks at the Workplace Relations Commission, to ballot members on proposals, and defer planned industrial action.
The council says it has also decided, for “strategic reasons”, to recommend that members accept the proposals to “secure immediate steps to address the staffing/ recruitment/retention crisis existing at this time”.
A statement from the union said:
If the members accept these proposals, the INMO will be approaching the planned discussions, on a successor to the Lansdowne Road Agreement, requiring that any new agreement is constructed to ensure that the labour market challenges, facing nursing/midwifery, can, and will, be addressed in a manner which will resolve the recruitment/retention issue in the medium to long-term.
“The organisation will now put in place arrangements for this ballot, in workplaces across the country, with a view to having it completed by the end of March.”
The decision was welcomed by Health Minister Simon Harris.
“I welcome the deferral and respect the process the INMO is now undertaking to ballot its members and reiterate my commitment to working to invest in and further improve the Irish health service.”
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