Mater Private strike averted as pay cuts overturned

A STRIKE scheduled to take place at the Mater Private Hospital from today has been averted following a deal reached between management and unions at the Labour Relations Commission.

Under the agreement, controversial pay cuts which were introduced unilaterally by management last month will effectively be reversed for the present.

Reintroduction of the original pay scales from the beginning of February will facilitate talks over a three-week period between the parties on an overall cost-containment plan at the private hospital group. However, the issue of pay will be on the agenda for the new discussions.

Siptu and the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation said last night that the threat of strike action at the Mater Private Hospital had been lifted following the agreement at the Labour Relations Commission.

Siptu Dublin health services organiser Paul Bell said last night that in the new talks on cost containment at the hospital, all issues would be up for discussion, including supplies, services and pay. He said that future pay security for members of staff at the Mater Private would also be on the agenda.

Under the deal brokered at the Labour Relations Commission yesterday, the hospital also agreed that if there was a successful outcome to the new talks it would pay back the equivalent of the amount deducted from staff in January.

The unions said the cuts introduced by management last month involved reductions of between 5 and 10 per cent on salary, and a further 5 per cent on allowances.

Under the deal brokered yesterday, the hospital is to provide independently verified financial information to an independent party “to ensure that the dialogue will be fully informed and that the union side can satisfy itself as to the detail of the issues facing the hospital”.

Any issues unresolved between the parties at the end of the new talks will be referred to the Labour Relations Commission for a recommendation.

While the strike threat at the Mater Private has been lifted, the prospect of industrial action at another private hospital group, the Bon Secours, remains in place.

Trade unions have served strike notice at the Bon Secours group of hospitals to come into effect from Monday of next week in a separate row over pay cuts for staff which were introduced unilaterally by management.

Mr Bell said it would be up to management at the Bon Secours group to decide whether the Labour Relations Commission document formed the basis for dealing with the dispute there.