SIPTU plan to ballot for strike action in Section 39 organisations
SIPTU representatives have today (Wednesday, 23rd October) said that they are preparing to ballot members in some Section 39 organisations for strike action following the refusal of the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform (DPER) to fully honour a recent pay restoration agreement.
SIPTU Health Division Organiser, Paul Bell, said: “The decision to prepare a ballot our members followed a scheduled meeting between SIPTU representatives with officials from the Department of Health and the Health Service Executive at the Workplace Relation Commission earlier today. At this meeting it was announced that the Department has refused to apply pay restoration to thousands of health workers employed in a variety of Section 39 organisations.
“The decision by the Department to turn its back on a deal that was brokered earlier this year will not be tolerated by our members. We now intend to immediately identify all the organisations where workers have not yet benefited from the pay restoration agreement and prepare to ballot them for strike action.
“We also intend to meet next week with our colleagues from other unions to chart a way forward that will resolve this dispute in a manner which is fair for workers while minimising the potential impact of a strike on service users.
“The number of members involved in this dispute is roughly 6,000. The amount of money the Department requires to fairly resolve it is under €7 million.”
He added: The continued refusal to fairly treat these vital community health workers, who work in areas such as home care, dementia and alzheimer services, is unacceptable.”