Dozens of members of Siptu and the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) held a lunchtime protest at the Mater Private hospital in Dublin today.
According to Siptu, the action is in protest at the 5 per cent to 7.5 per cent pay cuts imposed on staff by the hospital management.
Yesterday, the unions served strike notice that they say will involve a full withdrawal of their labour from the start of next month. The hospital has a staff of about 900, although not all are members of Siptu and the INMO, formerly the INO.
“As the Mater Private is a profit-making organisation, these imposed, unagreed pay cuts are in fact illegal and unnecessary,” the unions said in a joint statement.
Mater Private chief executive Fergus Clancy has confirmed the pay cuts came in from January 1st. He said the decision by the unions was “disappointing”.
Mr Clancy said the hospital had predicted prior to the budget that it would need to introduce pay cuts. “But given that our competitors, some of whom had already gone before the budget with deeper pay cuts, we were determined to wait until we saw what happened with the national pay scales.
“Although competitors have gone deeper, we have made a decision not to break the agreement we have with unions to honour the public pay [scales].”
Mr Clancy said hospital staff had also been paid dividends by virtue of their participation in its share-ownership scheme, under which they own 15 per cent of the equity in the business.
Mr Clancy said the effect on the treatment of patients if strike action went ahead on February 1st would depend on what was agreed with unions.