"I'm backing the nurses" badges are put on hold for the moment

THE "I'm backing the nurses" badges were in heavy demand after the INO's Dublin meeting, but after, lengthy debate the union's branch officers and strike committee members backed away from donning them on the picket line today.

Although no vote was taken, the consensus among speakers at the three hour meeting was that strike action should be deferred. This would give the rank and file members time to read the Labour "Court offer and vote on it.

Many expressed fears that by stepping back from the brink the INO risked, losing the momentum its campaign has built up over the past 18 months. There was anger, too, at SIPTU's decision to tell its nurse members to work normally today, a move which would reduce the effectiveness of any strike.

Few representatives at yesterday's meeting had a good word to say for the improved pay and early retirement proposals.

As one nurse from the Mater put it: "I'm sick to death of hearing about £30 million extra. What they're offering a staff nurse is £4 a day". She thought it "absolutely ludicrous" to be deferring the strike.

What really interested those present was the proposal by the Labour Court to establish a commission on nursing. "The INO looked for this in 1990. Yet it took seven years and an 11th hour intervention by the Labour Court to get what we're looking for," said executive member Ms Maureen Magee.

The nurses hope the commission will address long standing grievances about their training and workload. Ms Magee cited it as the reason she will be voting for the new deal.

Mr Nick Crellin, from the Mater Hospital, said the commission would have to recognise the revolution which had taken place in nursing. "Things will never be the same again. People now realise how essential nurses are, and the breadth of services they provide."

The INO general secretary, Mr P.J. Madden, rejected calls for him to criticise SIPTU for instructing its members to work normally. This would "give SIPTU a power they neither merit nor deserve," he told the meeting.

By early afternoon, the meeting had talked itself out, and the nurses emerged from the basement of the Dublin hotel where they convened. Some took out their mobile phones to tell friends of the outcome. Others rushed off to start work.