More than 1,000 nurses are expected to attend a rally tomorrow to express their frustration over pay and conditions.
The Irish Nurses Organisation (INO) and the Psychiatric Nurses Association (PNO) are organising the rally in the Helix Centre in Dublin City University to support their move to abandon benchmarking.
Both unions have opted out of benchmarking and have referred eight claims to the Labour Court, which are due to be heard next Tuesday.
The unions claim nurses have to work for 21 years before being paid the same as childcare workers who over each year earn €2,000 to €3,000 more than nurses.
Among the other claims being pursued is a reduction in the working week for all nurses and midwives from a 39 hour week to a 35 hour week. The unions are also looking for a pay increase of 10.6 per cent increase for all nursing and midwifery grades and a special allowance for nurses working in Dublin.
Des Kavanagh, of the Psychiatric Nurses Association
"The court will be asked to give effect to the sentiment it expressed in 1980 that nurses should be amongst the first to benefit from a shorter working week. Twenty-six years on, in spite of the mental and physical nature of the work involved in the delivery of nursing care, nurses and midwives remain the only professional, technical or administrative category in the health service required to work 39 hours per week.," said Des Kavanagh of the PNA.
"Wednesday's protest rally will be both a celebration of nursing and midwifery and an opportunity for the professions to send a loud message in advance of their court hearing that they will not be treated as second class professionals," said Dave Hughes deputy general secretary of the INO.
"Real health service reform requires radicalism which re-addresses all the anomalies in the system and puts the patient first by valuing those who care for them," he added.
The venue for the rally has been moved from the Croke Park Conference Centre to the Helix due to the high demand from nurses to attend.