Nurses won't strike unless they 'absolutely have to'

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Written by Brenda Carney

Wednesday, 07 February 2007

The Irish Nurses Organisation Industrial Relations Officer for Galway has said that nurses will not strike unless they "absolutely have to".

Ms Noreen Muldoon was speaking after two unions representing over 40,000 nurses voted for a campaign of industrial action in a dispute over pay and conditions.

The results of ballots by the Irish Nurses Organisation and the Psychiatric Nurses Organisation showed 96 per cent of nurses were in favour of action that will include a national work-to-rule, short work stoppages and lunchtime protests. The lunchtime protests will not affect patients, as the nurses will initially be protesting on their lunch break.

The unions will serve 21 days notice of the campaign on the Health Service Executive but have warned they will give no further details to employers of when the campaign will begin and the exact nature of the action.

The INO is looking for equal rights and status and a 35-hour week similar to other health care professions.

"We want to avoid strike but then if there is no response and nothing happening, we will have sporadic withdrawal of labour in key areas," said Ms Muldoon.

INO General Secretary Liam Doran insisted the action would minimise disruption to patients and said nurses would provide emergency cover but only if they are paid for this work.

Ms Muldoon said, "Nurses won't do that emergency work for free. They will have to be paid for it. The last time they gave all that time for nothing and the government made millions as a result so they have vehemently declared they will not do that this time, they will not work for nothing - they will get paid for it".

Dr John Barton, Consultant Cardiologist at Portiuncula hospital Co. Galway, who is running as a Fine Gael candidate in the election for Galway East, said he could see the strike coming for a long time.

"The HSE and government do not value the work that nurses carry out. This is exemplified by the fact that equivalent professionals, such as occupational therapists, speech therapists, play therapists, chiropodists, and physiotherapists, commence on a salary of €36,000 versus €29,000 for a graduate nurse. It is still somehow considered that nursing is a vocation and not a highly important job in an extremely important public and human service."

A spokesperson for the HSE expressed disappointment at the decision and said the issues the INO and PNO raised were the "subject of an in-depth examination by the Labour Court, which recommended their pay claims should be processed through the Public Service Benchmarking Body (PSBB)".

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