20/03/2019 Comments are off SIPTU Health
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SIPTU says University Hospital Limerick ward closure is in breach of PSSA

SIPTU representatives have informed management that its proposal to close a ward in University Hospital Limerick, without consultation with unions, will constitute a breach of the terms of the Public Service Stability Agreement (PSSA).

SIPTU Organiser, Pat Condon, said: “Union representatives met with senior management on 9th January. At this meeting, management said it was proposing to close Ward 1A in order to facilitate the opening of a fracture unit in its place.

“SIPTU representatives stated that Ward 1A was part of a 2016 agreement for the opening of a new emergency department for the hospital. We pointed out that it was senseless at this point to close a sixteen-bed unit when the hospital was effectively operating beyond capacity with trolleys on wards every night. We highlighted that removing these sixteen beds would adversely affect patients and expose our members to dangerous risks.

“Agreement was reached that these beds would remain open and that if there was to be any change, management would reengage with union representatives. Our members are upset to learn that management proposes to go ahead with the closure of this ward at the end of March. This is despite there being no further discussions on this issue between management and union representatives.”

He added: “Management has also refused to meet with unions to discuss the wider issue of staffing levels in the hospital as part of a Workplace Relations Commission process. Instead, management has decided to introduce changes to our members’ conditions of employment without any discussions or agreement.

“SIPTU representatives wrote to management on 10th January informing it that its continued refusal to engage with union representatives on any matters incurring changes to our members’ employment conditions would amount to a breach of the PSSA. Since then we have made several other requests for discussions with management to no avail.

“Unless there is an immediate engagement by management with our union, the next step will be to cite this breach of the PSSA to the National Implementation Body, which is responsible for overseeing adherence to the agreement.”

19/03/2019 Comments are off SIPTU Health
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Labour Court hearing adjourns

SIPTU Nursing representatives attended a Labour Court hearing on Tuesday 19th, March on the proposed enhanced nursing and midwifery contract.

SIPTU requested that the hearing adjourn until Monday (25th March) to allow for consideration and engagement on a number of technical matters that require clarification prior to the hearing proceeding

SIPTU thanks the members of the Labour Court for their patience and forbearance in this regard.  Updates will be available on the SIPTU Health Division App and website.

12/03/2019 Comments are off SIPTU Health
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SIPTU invited to attend Labour Court to discuss new nursing and midwifery contract.

Update 13th March: SIPTU representatives are invited to attend talks at the Labour Court next Tuesday at 12 pm. (18th March) to discuss proposed new nursing and midwifery contract.

Read the draft contract here. 

Continue reading “SIPTU invited to attend Labour Court to discuss new nursing and midwifery contract.” »

12/03/2019 Comments are off SIPTU Health
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Podcast on Proposed Nursing and Midwifery contract

Member of the SIPTU Nursing and Midwifery Sector Committee will meet today (Tuesday, 12th March) at 1130 in Liberty Hall to discuss the outcome of the enhanced nursing contract talks that took place in the Workplace Relations Commission last weekend.

Updates to follow.

Listen to podcast

10/03/2019 Comments are off SIPTU Health
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Nursing and midwifery contract talks conclude without agreement

SIPTU Health Division representatives have tonight (Sunday, 10th March) confirmed that talks, under the auspices of the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC), on an enhanced nursing and midwifery contract, have concluded without agreement.

SIPTU Health Divisional Organiser, Paul Bell said: “Throughout the talks, management represented by the Health Service Executive, Department of Health and Department of Public Expenditure and Reform continued to maintain their position on fundamental issues concerning our members’ hours of work, rosters, redeployment, work location and assimilation to the new enhanced pay scale. All of these areas are of fundamental concern to SIPTU and our Nursing and Midwifery members.”

“SIPTU negotiators informed management, that their objectives in all of these key areas, all of which fundamentally undermine the terms and conditions of Nurses & Midwives, are firmly and unequivocally rejected and that the proposals are not fit for purpose.”

He added: “SIPTU representatives also confirmed that any management proposals aimed at deteriorating the terms and conditions of Nurses and Midwives will be firmly resisted by our National Nursing and Midwifery Sector Committee.”

SIPTU Nursing Sector Organiser, Kevin Figgis said: “It is our assessment that the totality of the proposals either provide little or no benefit for some Nursing and Midwifery grades and destabilise the entire concept of a workplace location and a structured rostered day.”

He added: “As there are no further talks scheduled, SIPTU Nursing and Midwifery Sector will meet this week for the purpose of agreeing on a communication strategy and secret ballot to allow SIPTU Nurse and Midwifery members have the final say on these proposals.”

10/03/2019 Comments are off SIPTU Health
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Time to Raise the Roof again

ANOTHER parliamentary report, more criticism of current housing policy. The Oireachtas Housing Committee’s recent report questioned: “whether Rebuilding Ireland can remain as the current blueprint for tackling the issues of housing and homelessness”.

This is a polite way of saying what most people concluded some time ago – government policy is not working.

The Government insists that the primary delivery vehicle for housing is the private sector. To this end, it must employ a range of subsidies to developers and private interests. This is not only costly; it has the perverse effect of driving up prices. And there is less money for policies that could really make a positive impact.

Let’s look at some of these subsidies:

  • The Housing Assistance Payment (HAP)

This is the flagship scheme among a number of rent subsidies. These subsidies provide payments to tenants who cannot afford their rents in the private sector.

They will cost the state more than 3 billion over the next few years.

These payments are ultimately a subsidy to the landlord. Secondly, subsidies drive up rent as landlords can keep raising prices at the public’s expense. Third, in the long-term, they are more costly: it is cheaper to build public housing and rent it directly to the tenant.

On this last point, the Government doesn’t have to take our word here in Liberty. The Department of Finance’s own analysis last year concluded: “It is estimated that, based on the Local Authority areas analysed, the . . . cost of delivering units through mechanisms such as HAP, RAS and leasing is higher than construction and/or acquisition.” Enough said.

  • The Land Development Agency

The purpose of this agency is to coordinate all publicly-held land with the purpose of developing it for house-building. In theory, this is a good idea. The State owns a lot of land and not just at local authority level. Land is also held by public agencies, including NAMA, Government departments, semi- states, etc.

A co-ordinating agency can create efficiencies and provide more land for house-building.

The problem is we don’t know what the Government intends to do with this land. The fear is that it will engage in a massive transfer to private developers who will build for profit, selling or leasing 10% or 20% of the houses back to the state – at market rates.

Land would be lost, affordability wouldn’t really be affordable and the costs to public authorities of leasing or purchasing would be higher than if they just built the houses themselves.

The Land Development Agency has the capacity to engage in the biggest transfer of public wealth to private interests since the bailout of bank creditors and the massive property disposals of public lands by NAMA.

  • The House Building Finance Agency (HBFI)

 This little-known agency was established by the Government to support smaller developers who couldn’t get bank loans. Recently, the Government made available 750 million to the agency to loan out. Some might argue this isn’t a subsidy since the agency will be lending at ‘market rates’. This is true. But look at the alternative.

The State can borrow at ridiculously low rates – one per cent – and this is likely to continue for some time as Eurozone governments continue to depress their economies through irrational austerity policies. The market, however, lends at 8%. The developer’s borrowing costs are thousands of euros more a year which is passed on in a higher mortgage.

This simple comparison makes the point – lending at ‘market’ rates only embeds high costs into house prices (while the bank earns more in interest payments).

In the end, it is the purchaser who pays the subsidy and the higher mortgage, with the developer making a tidy profit. If the State built the house itself, it could sell or rent it at a much lower price.

HAP, the Land Development Agency, the House Building Finance Agency – all these are just a few of the subsidies and incentives to private developers and the private housing sector.

The alternative is simpler and much less costly:

  • Public land for public housing only – no sell-offs to private interests.
  • The State to build houses for affordable rental and affordable purchase – without profit or speculation.
  • And whether for rent or purchase – no means-tests.
  • In other words, public housing for all.

It is time to Raise the Roof . . . again.

10/03/2019 Comments are off SIPTU Health
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WRC talks on enhanced nurse contract to continue tomorrow

Nursing and Midwifery talks under the auspices of the Workplace Relations Commission have tonight concluded without agreement on the Enhanced Nurse contract.

Management represented by the HSE, Department of Health and Department of Public Expenditure and Reform has maintained a rigid position on fundamental issues concerning our members’ hours of work, rosters, redeployment, work location and assimilation to the new enhanced payscale all of which are of fundamental concern.

SIPTU has continually opposed management’s objectives in all of these key areas, all of which fundamentally challenge the terms and conditions of nurses & midwives employment.

At the conclusion of talks tonight, the Workplace Relations Commission invited parties to re-engage at 16:00hrs tomorrow (Sunday, 10th March).

SIPTU has accepted this invitation.

08/03/2019 Comments are off SIPTU Health
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Nursing Contract Talks continue

SIPTU Nursing representatives have today (Friday, 8th March) confirmed that negotiations on the proposed new nursing contact will continue at 3.30pm at the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC).

Updates to follow.

04/03/2019 Comments are off SIPTU Health
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SIPTU Nursing to attend WRC hearing this week

SIPTU Nursing representatives have today (Monday, 4th March) confirmed that negotiations between unions and officials at the Health Service Executive, Department of Health and Department of Public Expenditure and Reform have been referred to the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC).

SIPTU Sector Organiser, Kevin Figgis, said: “SIPTU representatives have been contacted by the WRC to inform our union that a referral has been made by employers (HSE) seeking their assistance on the draft contract for enhanced nurses. SIPTU will not support a contract which seeks to destabilise a workforce, remove the concept of a recognised place of work or creates uncertainty for the workforce providing service.”

“It is incumbent that any flexibility required of the nursing/midwifery profession must be linked to the development of such policies as the implementation of SlainteCare and the development of community service, and not merely be viewed as an employer attempting to blatantly deconstruct existing working day or base locations.”

A general nursing meeting will be convened the WRC this week, followed by a mental health meeting.

SIPTU will be in attendance for both and further updates will be made available on the SIPTU Health App.

03/03/2019 Comments are off SIPTU Health
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A new weapon in the war against low pay

From next Monday (4th March), the Employment (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, becomes the law of the land.

This vital piece of legislation gives workers on flexible and low-hours contracts new rights and entitlements on working hours and pay.

Trade union representatives fought hard for this new law. The employers didn’t want to give an inch. The new law gives more certainty to the lives of tens of thousands of workers across Ireland, particularly in hospitality, home care, retail and catering sectors, but only if the employer actually implements it.

As trade union members, we know zero-hour and low-hour contracts give employers control over the lives of workers. This power imbalance makes it very difficult for workers to speak up, plan their lives or make ends meet.

Bad employers often use the threat of reduced hours to keep workers in line and to punish workers for being unavailable for work at very short notice. This legislation re-tips the balance and makes progress in giving workers back control.

Set down in law are minimum payments for workers if their employer fails to provide them with work or sends a worker home without pay having reported for duty. Workers are also now entitled to be guaranteed hours of work that reflect their normal working week.

The practice of putting workers on a low-hour contract while in reality, they work a much longer week is now effectively banned.

The best way to enforce this law in your workplace is to ensure that every worker is in the union.

Find out more


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