28/01/2020 Comments are off SIPTU Health
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SIPTU members in St Patrick’s Mental Health Services ballot for strike action

SIPTU members working in St Patrick’s Mental Health Services, James’s Street, Dublin 8, will tomorrow (Wednesday, 29th January) begin the process of balloting for strike action in a dispute resulting from a management decision to outsource household and catering services to third party providers without agreement.

SIPTU Organiser, Aideen Carberry said: “Our members believe that this unilateral action is an attempt by management to not only provide these essential services on the cheap, but to remove loyal workers from a staff defined benefit pension scheme by the backdoor. Our longest serving member has been working for the organisation for almost 45 years. Management and service users alike have previously complimented the work our members perform for the organisation in household and catering so we can only deduce that this is a miserly attempt to save money for the organisation and we believe the service will suffer because of it.”

“In 2017, the employer commenced a review of both catering and household services. At the time, SIPTU representatives objected on the grounds that the review in catering was being carried out by a company already providing catering services to the hospital. SIPTU also called for a full engagement with staff, prior to any recommendation on outsourcing being taken to the Board of Governors. SIPTU repeatedly sought updates on the review. These calls fell on deaf ears. In the summer of 2019, union representatives were advised that the decision to outsource these services had been made and contracts signed with the providers. This lack of respect towards the staff and their representatives is totally unacceptable.”

She added: “Our members are absolutely furious about how St Patrick’s Mental Health Services management has dealt with this situation. The staff and their union representatives have openly called for talks to commence for an agreement to keep the staff in direct employment. These calls have so far been ignored by management and our members see no alternative but to ballot for strike action. We are calling on St Patrick’s Mental Health Services management to reverse its decision and to engage with SIPTU representatives in a meaningful dialogue that will keep the services in-house and not impact on patient care and safety.”

26/01/2020 Comments are off SIPTU Health
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Sunday Read: STOP67 Coalition launch to fight increase in the pension age

SIPTU was joined by SIPTU Health Division activists including Stop67 campaigner Sue Redmond and leading non-governmental organisations for the launch of the Stop67 campaign in Dublin last Thursday which aims to halt the increase of the state pension age for workers to 67 from 2021.

Speaking at the formal campaign launch in the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland in Kildare Street, Dublin,SIPTU Deputy General Secretary, Ethel Buckley, said: “STOP67 is the SIPTU campaign to stop the increase of the state pension age to 67 on 1st January, 2021.

“SIPTU representatives are not surprised this is a major general election issue. We have been hearing from our members since the abolition of the transitional pension scheme in 2014 about the difficulties that the retirement gap has been causing for workers. This includes the absolute indignity of people coming up to 65 years of agewho are expecting to get their pension and having to sign on the dole.”

SIPTU General Secretary, Joe Cunningham, called on Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil to make clear their position on the pensions issue.

He added: “All the other political parties are supportingthe ‘STOP67’ campaign. The big two parties must make their position clear.”

National Women’s Council of Ireland Director, Orla O’Connor, said: “This is a core issue for women. Women rely on the state pension for the vast majority of their income in older age. So, anything that impacts on state pensions disproportionally impacts on women.”

Age Action Chief Executive, Paddy Connolly, said: “This campaign is not only about stopping the rise of the pension age to 67 but also the creation of a stakeholder forum which will consider issues such as finances, age discrimination and others that effect people in their retirement.”

Active Retirement Ireland chief executive, Maureen Kavanagh, said: “Ireland has the youngest population but the highest prospective retirement age in the EU. We are not under the demographic pressure of other countries. Retirement is a great part of life but it has to be voluntary, flexible and appropriate. We can’t force people out of a job that they love, or to stay in their job.”

19/01/2020 Comments are off SIPTU Health
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Survey: Unfinished Business. Completing the Circle

On 1st January public servants received their next union-negotiated pay and pension levy boosts.

The Public Service Stability Agreement, which was negotiated by SIPTU and other unions in 2017, will also deliver another 2% salary adjustment for all this September.  Non-pay provisions in the PSSA include strong protections against outsourcing. The deal expires in December 2020.

That’s why we planning ahead and consulting our members on what are the issues that matter to them in the workplace ahead of any potential successor.

Click here and take our survey. Share with colleagues.

All completed surveys will be entered into a draw for one for all voucher. Winner to be named on Sunday 16th February. 

17/01/2020 Comments are off SIPTU Health
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SIPTU rejects Fine Gael claim on cost of demand to stop the increase in pension age

SIPTU representatives have rejected a claim by finance minister, Paschal Donohoe, that the State cannot afford to stop the increase in the pension age to 67 years in 2021. Responding to finance minister, Paschal Donohoe, who questioned how the €200 million cost of such a policy could be funded, SIPTU Researcher, Michael Taft, said that it could be financed from the existing Social Insurance Fund.

Michael Taft said: “The Minister has said that it will cost €217 million per year to stop the pension age increase and has questioned how this would be paid for.  The €217 million cost of stopping the increase can be paid out of the surplus in the Social Insurance Fund. The Fund is currently running a surplus of €1.4 billion a year. The reality is that, in the short term, there would be no need to increase taxation, cut spending or borrow to finance the cancellation of the pension age increase. For the longer term, the ‘STOP67’ SIPTU campaign has called for a Stakeholder Forum to discuss new policies regarding issues such as the pension age, age discrimination, living standards and life quality in retirement.”

“The Government has already introduced a number of new PRSI based payments, such as optical, dental, illness benefits and unemployment benefit for self-employed, which are paid out of the Social Insurance Fund surplus. It is quite credible to suggest that the Fund can be used to cover the short-term cost of halting the planned increase in the pension age to 67 next year.”

A SIPTU campaign to stop the plans to increase the state pension age to 67 years of age in 2021 and 68 in 2028 has become a major issue in this election, prior to its formal launch on Thursday, 23rd January in Dublin.

SIPTU Deputy General Secretary, Ethel Buckley said: “SIPTU members have helped to make the government plan to raise the pension age to 67 one of the major issues of the election campaign. In recent weeks, SIPTU representatives have been working hard, lobbying politicians and bringing together interested organisations to campaign on this issue which was one of the key concerns raised by our membership at the union’s Biennial delegate conference last year.”

The ‘STOP67’ SIPTU campaign to halt the increase in the state pension age will be formally launched at an event in the Cheyne Room, Royal College of Physicians of Ireland, 6 Kildare Street, Dublin 2 at 11.00 a.m. on Thursday, 23rd January. The launch will also be addressed by supportive campaign groups including Age Action and Active Retirement Ireland.

 

12/01/2020 Comments are off SIPTU Health
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Sunday Read: Racism has no place in politics

The poison of racism has been brought into politics in Ireland in recent months. Ahead of General Election 2020, incoming SIPTU General Secretary, Joe Cunningham, has made the position of the union on racist and anti-immigrant approach to politics clear.

He said: “Racist and anti-immigrant sentiment should have no place in politics in Ireland. As trade unionists stopping the spread of such vile views is a crucial task as the spread of racism can only lead to division between workers. Such division makes the core task of our union, improving the living standards of members and their families, much more difficult. The spread of racism and anti-immigrant sentiment is also corrosive to our society and the general wellbeing of communities across the country.”

He added: “I would call upon SIPTU members to make clear their abhorrence for those who would seek to use racist and immigrant sentiment to further their own political agendas. SIPTU members should vote for those candidates who will further the interests of all workers and not seek to divide us.”

05/01/2020 Comments are off SIPTU Health
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SIPTU says overcrowding crisis is leading to ambulance service chaos

SIPTU representatives have today (Sunday, 5th January) said that the overcrowding crisis in emergency departments is causing chaos for ambulance professionals across the country.

SIPTU Health Division Organiser, Paul Bell said: “SIPTU representatives are demanding that the Minister for Health, Simon Harris, the Department of Health and the Health Service Executive (HSE) take immediate and effective action to relieve the immense pressure being experienced by ambulance professionals across the country. At the end of November, SIPTU representatives requested that the HSE and Department of Health agree a protocol for the handover of patients at emergency departments. Unfortunately, our calls were ignored and now we have an unacceptable situation where our members are reporting delays in some cases of between three and a half and seven hours outside emergency departments as our now annual winter overcrowding crisis bites. It is outrageous that in 2020 Ireland patients are being treated in the loading bays of hospitals instead of hospital beds. This is not what quality patient care looks like, and this kind of chaos is starving communities of a safe and functioning ambulance service, particularly in areas of the west of Ireland and in the midlands.”

“While the HSE and Department of Health are responding to some areas of the overcrowding crisis, primarily by attempting to boost the number of beds available in hospitals there seems to be little consideration or emergency planning to make sure ambulances are kept on the road and readily available for communities. Over the weekend, we had the absurd situation where SIPTU members working a 12 hour shift in an ambulance base in County Clare were dispatched on a 901km roundtrip to Clonmel and back to Youghal due to local resources in being held up in Tipperary while ambulances from Kilkenny bases were dispatched to emergencies in Cork. This chaotic system is not only bad for patients and driving up ambulance waiting times it is also having detrimental effect on the health and wellbeing of our members with many ambulance professionals continuously exposed to long shift over-runs and unsatisfactory rest and break times.”

He added: “SIPTU representatives have also written to the Director of Ambulance Services and representatives of the Department of Health to request an urgent meeting to highlight our members’ deep concerns and to seek assurances that all is being done to prevent this crisis from spilling into more communities.”

05/01/2020 Comments are off SIPTU Health
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Remembering Marian Finucane

SIPTU Health Division would like to express our deepest condolences to the family, friends and colleagues of Marian Finucane, following the death of the broadcaster who made an immense contribution to journalism and women’s rights in Ireland.

Her contribution to broadcasting and journalism has been well acknowledged since her untimely death. However, Marian should also be remembered as a person who played a leading role for many years in the struggle of women for equality in Ireland.

In her long broadcasting career she provided a platform for those highlighting areas of discrimination against women in Ireland such as unequal pay and not being able to avail of contraception. Through her work, Marian Finucane helped bring about significant progress in Irish society during a crucial period of change. 

Ar dheis dé go raibh anam

03/01/2020 Comments are off SIPTU Health
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Grace period for nurses and midwives retention fee confirmed

The Nursing and Midwifery Board of Ireland (NMBI) announced that it will accept payments in January for its Annual Retention Fee (ARF).

This grace period will allow extra time for Nurses and Midwives to pay an annual fee that is normally due on January 1st. Nurses and midwives practising in Ireland have a professional and legal responsibility to have their name on the Register of Nurses and Midwives which is maintained by the NMBI. This includes clinical practice, nursing/midwifery management, education and research.

Each year it is necessary for all nurses and midwives working in Ireland to pay their ARF to maintain their registration. Employers will normally seek a certificate from nurses and midwives at the start of each year.

For further information on payment please visit the Annual Retention Fee page on the NMBI website

For customer service queries, you can ring 1890 200 116 and for technical queries in relation to payment methods e.g. direct debit, you can email registration@nmbi.ie

03/01/2020 Comments are off SIPTU Health
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Podcast: SIPTU Ambulance Professionals planning national mobilising campaign

We want ambulance professionals to be recognised as health/social care workers, this is the next natural step but cannot come about with the co-operation of the Health Minister & Dept of Health…” – SIPTU Health Divisional Organiser, Paul Bell speaking this morning on LMFM with Michael Reade

Listen back here ↓

01/01/2020 Comments are off SIPTU Health
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SIPTU preparing to mobilise to win respect for ambulance professionals

SIPTU representatives have today (Wednesday, 1st January) said that members working in the National Ambulance Service (NAS) are planning a national mobilising campaign to win respect and recognition for all ambulance professionals in 2020.

SIPTU Health Division Organiser, Paul Bell, said: “Our members, across all grades in the NAS, are determined to secure greater recognition from the health employers including, if necessary, by taking a ballot for industrial action early in the new year. Our members are no longer “van” drivers. They have over a relatively short period of time developed into a highly skilled workforce with the ability to make key clinical decisions and to administer lifesaving medications to patients suffering trauma, cardiac arrest or stroke. That deserves to be recognised.”

“In 2017, SIPTU representatives engaged in a successful national industrial campaign to secure vital resources for our NAS members to do their jobs effectively and safely, including the purchase of a new ambulance fleet to serve the public.

In 2019, SIPTU representatives participated in a review of the skillsets of ambulance professionals with a specific focus on emergency medical technicians and paramedics. The findings of this review, due to be published in early 2020, are likely to confirm what SIPTU members already believe – that the role of all frontline ambulance professionals has evolved through education and training to the standard expected of health and social care professionals.”

He added: “It may shock the wider medical community, including the Minister for Health, Simon Harris and indeed the general public, that ambulance professionals are not regulated unlike nurses, midwives, radiographers, radiation therapists and physiotherapists yet they are responsible for administering up to 45 lifesaving drugs and making clinical decisions and in many cases are the first point of contact for patients. The regulation of ambulance professionals must be treated as a priority.

“As with other health and social care professions,  regulation will protect patients, provide a mandatory framework for practice and make it an offence to impersonate staff members. It is well overdue. It may also shock those same actors that ambulance professionals have no recognised pay scale within the public sector consolidated pay scales. This is absolutely unacceptable and must be addressed once and for all.”

“Our members rightly feel that their time for recognition and respect is now and that the Government needs to engage on these issues and give them confidence that the future structure, viability and vision of our National Ambulance Service works for the many, not the few.”

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