Siptu to seek pay rises for healthcare assistants, conference told

The trade union Siptu has served formal notice on the HSE that it will be seeking pay rises for healthcare assistants and other health service support staff on foot of a job review.

Siptu health division organiser Paul Bell told the union's health division conference in Cork on Tuesday that a job evaluation review had found that healthcare assistants and some other grades were entitled to an upgrade on the basis that their roles and responsibilities had changed.

Such job evaluation reviews had been suspended in the public service after the economic crash, however the current process was agreed as part of the former Lansdowne Road public service accord.

Union sources have suggested that the review could lead to healthcare assistants in some cases receive a pay boost t €3,000 or €4,000 .

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Mr Bell told the conference the union had fought very hard for a job evaluation process to be re-introduced “to help lower-paid workers who were embracing changes in their roles to have, at some time, their job evaluated and that assessment would recognise in remuneration and responsibility term, the role they fulfil within the health service”.

“What I am able to tell you is that this union has served notification on the HSE seeking engagement to address pay for healthcare assistants and other support staff grades who have now been identified as being entitled to an upgrade.”

“We will be pursuing those negotiations as soon as possible. We are extremely pleased that our members have proved their value in the independent job evaluation process.”

Mr Bell also said the new deal on pay restoration agreed for workers in State -funded voluntary bodies providing health and social services — known as Section 39 organisations –represented “only half time”.

He said there would be more to be done for these staff.

Under the agreement reached earlier this week staff, in 50 Section 39 organisations will receive €1,000 next April. The balance of any further pay restoration due will be phased in over a further two years.

Mr Bell also said the union would be looking to talk to Government about future in-sourcing of work to the public service rather than having work traditionally carried out in the State sector contracted out to private operators.

“It has been proven in many health services across Europe that out-sourcing will only get you so far, because then, those that have the outsourced work become the monopoly.”