THOUSANDS OF patients may be affected by disruption in the health service next month after the country’s largest trade union, Siptu, decided to stage a 48-hour strike in seven hospitals in Dublin.
Some 4,500 lower-paid staff in the hospitals – including porters; catering personnel; security; healthcare assistants and supervisors – are to go on strike from 1am on Wednesday, April 7th until 1am on Friday, April 9th.
The public hospitals to be affected are St James’s, St Vincent’s, Connolly Memorial, Mater, Beaumont, Tallaght and St Colmcille’s in Loughlinstown.
The union said the strike was part of its involvement in the campaign of industrial action in the public service. However, Siptu is also concerned about reports that some hospitals have been examining the issue of outsourcing jobs.
Siptu’s health sector organiser Paul Bell said he would ask other unions for support.
The Irish Times reported yesterday that Siptu was unhappy with proposals by Impact and the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation for rolling two-hour stoppages in the health sector and that it favoured more intensive action.
Mr Bell warned that the proposed action next month could be the beginning of a series of strikes in the hospital sector.
“Other hospitals in Dublin will have disputes in the weeks to follow and action in acute hospitals will be rolled out in the regions. Hospitals not on strike in Dublin are organising a solidarity fund to support striking workers,” he said.
Mr Bell said the month-long notice period served on hospitals allowed them “ample time to engage in meaningful dialogue with Siptu on the issues in dispute”. Siptu said the planned strike action was in response to the refusal of hospital management to honour the terms of the Towards 2016 agreement – which provided for increases of around 6 per cent overall, or to reach an alternative agreement, – and over their threat to outsource the jobs of union members.
The HSE said last night it had received no formal notice of the strike action. “If and when formal notice is received, we would expect unions to comply fully with agreements on emergency cover. At the time we receive the notice we will bring local human resource mangers together to agree contingency arrangements for emergency cover,” a spokeswoman said.
Around 16,000 patients had planned procedures cancelled during the nationwide one-day public sector strike last November.
The planned strikes in hospitals is the latest announcement of action across the public sector in protest at the pay cuts introduced by the Government.
Last Friday, the union representing lower-paid civil servants served strike notice on the Government which could come into effect as early as next Monday.
Minister for Finance Brian Lenihan briefed the Cabinet yesterday on the deteriorating industrial relations situation in the public service. A Government spokesman said later that industrial unrest did not achieve anything and its impact on the general public was counter-productive.
He added the Government was open to entering dialogue with the unions and was prepared to engage in meaningful discussions. He said informal contacts with the unions were ongoing.
Employers’ body Ibec said that the escalation of industrial action was unacceptable at a time when the country’s long-term prosperity depended on high-quality, effective and innovative public services.
Ibec director Brendan McGinty said talks between the Government and the unions should resume as a matter of urgency. He said the public sector unions had acknowledged the need for reform of public services.
Public Sector Action Phone Bans And Office Closures
PUBLIC OFFICESoperated by the Revenue are expected to be closed this afternoon as part of the industrial action in the public service. Members of the Civil Public and Services Union (CPSU) are also set to put in place a phone ban in the Revenue in the morning.
Other areas in the Civil Service to be hit by the phone ban today will be the Department of Health, the Department of Defence, the Department of Agriculture, the Central Statistics Office and the Chief State Solicitor’s Office.
Yesterday social welfare offices in Cork city, Waterford and Coolock in Dublin were closed as part of the dispute over pay cuts introduced in the budget.
Other social welfare offices were closed for part of the day as a result of the action by the CPSU.
The Passport Office in Dublin and Cork was also hit yesterday as part of the dispute. Union sources said in affected social welfare offices, records were manually updated by staff so payment to clients would not be interrupted.
Informed sources said that there was a dispute yesterday between the union and management in the Department of Social and Family Affairs yesterday about the updating of the records by staff.