Craft unions call for end to unofficial strikes

The group of unions representing craftworkers, many of whom participated in "wildcat" strikes at hospitals throughout the State this week, has called for a meeting of regional groups tomorrow with the aim of stopping any further unofficial industrial action.

Up to 50 regional representatives of the Local Authority and Health Boards Craft Group of Unions will meet to discuss last Friday's proposed Labour Court settlement.

Mr Finbarr Maguire, secretary of the body, called for "all undemocratic industrial action to cease as from today to allow the process to continue under normal industrial relations procedures".

The union has begun balloting its 3,000 members on the analogue pay review, which consists of a £25 a week increase plus three additional days' annual leave and other benefits. Ballots are to be returned by June 10th and the result should be announced on June 12th.

Mr Maguire said that if members were unhappy with the settlement, "it's the unions they should be picketing, not the public hospitals". He was speaking at a press conference in Dublin at which a number of unions - including those representing plasterers, painters and sheet metal workers - made a joint appeal for an end to wildcat strikes.

Mr Tom Wall, assistant general secretary of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions, welcomed the announcement by some of the craftworkers that unofficial action planned for tomorrow at hospitals and local authority offices would be called off. He said union members should "allow the democratic process to take its course and allow people to calmly reflect on the issues involved".

In relation to the pay settlement, his view was that the offer was the best one they were likely to get. "This would be the highest payment under analogue terms that has been achieved to date."

Mr Wall said that a decision to strike would result in a lengthy dispute which would involve a lot of hardship and, most importantly, would be "a risk to those in hospital".

Mr Paddy Coughlan, chairman of the Craft Group of Unions, rejected claims by the strikers that they were entitled to a £25.26 a week increase with "no strings attached". He said that productivity concessions were part of the original 1979 analogue agreement, although they had not been demanded in previous reviews.

Mr Coughlan said that the union's regional committees were considering taking disciplinary measures against wildcat strikers.