Thousands of nurses and midwives from all over the State will gather at Croke Park in Dublin next month in what they claim will be the largest ever such demonstration over their pay and working conditions.
INO general secretary Liam Doran
Nurses passed an emergency motion at the Irish Nurses' Organisation (INO) annual conference in Cavan today following a debate in which it was claimed that nurses and midwives are the second-lowest paid frontline staff members within the health service.
The INO and sister union the Psychiatric Nurses Association will hold the pay rally in Croke Park on Wednesday, June 14th.
The INO said the rally was to demonstrate nurses' commitment and resolve with regard to eight claims to be heard by the Labour Court on Tuesday, June 20th.
Nurses today heard it will take 21 years for this year's newly qualifying graduate nurse to be paid more than a social care worker, who may report to them and who may not have any qualification at all.
The conference also heard that nurses and midwives are the only health professional required to work a 39-hour week, while other grades work a maximum of 35.
Speaking after the debate, INO general secretary Liam Doran said: "We now expect that the rally on June 14th will be one of the largest gatherings of nurses and midwives ever in this country and it will be testimony to the resolve of both unions (INO and PNA) to have these unacceptable anomalies eliminated without delay.
"We will now prepare a comprehensive submission for the Labour Court hearing on June 20th and we have confidence that the claims will be examined on their merits and look forward to a positive set of recommendations."
"In adhering to all agreed procedures with regard to these claims it must be understood that both unions expect that procedures will deliver progress and that all parties accept 'no is not an answer' or that these matters can be referred to benchmarking.
"Nurses and midwives have waited up to 21years for progress on these issues and the message from the 350 delegates attending this week's conference is that they will not wait any longer," Mr Doran said.