Dublin hospital attendants stage one-day strike

Up to 200 ward attendants in six health board hospitals in Dublin are holding a 24-hour strike in a dispute over pay parity.

The action is being staged at hospitals for elderly and psychiatric patients.

Those affected are St Mary’s Hospital, Phoenix Park, St Ita’s Psychiatric Services, Portrane, St Brendan’s, Grangegorman, Bru Chaoimhin Home, Cork Street, St Colmcille’s, Loughlinstown and Clonskeagh Hospital, Clonskeagh.

SITPU said the attendants are seeking pay parity with workers employed in acute hospitals in the Dublin area.

The union said the dispute centres on a 2000 agreement with the Health Service Employers Agency (HSEA) to pay an eight per cent award to hospital attendants in the seven acute Dublin hospitals.

Non-acute hospital staff were not included, and efforts to have the payments extended to them have failed, despite assurances from the HSEA, the union claims.

Mr Ramon O’Reilly of SIPTU, said the action was originally scheduled for last January, but was called off when they got an assurance that pay rates would be addressed.

"We now find that when we’re looking for a concrete commitment, it’s not being dealt with, nor do we believe that it will be dealt with in the parallel benchmarking process," he said.

A HSEA spokesman said the action was "unjustified and inappropriate and is causing undue stress to patients". The HSEA also insisted the issue will be dealt with under benchmarking.