SIPTU Section 39 workers to ballot for strike over Government inaction on pay
SIPTU’s Health Division is to begin a ballot of up to 5,000 members working in Section 39 Organisations for strike action due to the failure of the Government to honour a pay agreement struck at the Workplace Relations Commission in October 2023.
SIPTU Sector Organiser, Damian Ginley, said: “The plight of Section 39 workers took centre stage during the General Election campaign. Senior politicians from Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil were falling over themselves to offer support and solutions, in the media and their election manifestos.
“However, their fine words ring hollow when we examine the Draft Programme for Government. The incoming Government has failed to include an adequate commitment to address the pay injustice that Section 39 workers face. Our members’ patience has now run out; they are saying enough is enough and want to take action. The pay link between the public sector and Section 39 Organisations must be restored, and the Government must stop treating our members, who provide essential disability care, elder care, and home support services, as second class.
“The failure of successive governments to deliver on pay justice for Section 39 workers has left our members struggling with low wages, while the organisations they work for face relentless recruitment and retention crises that undermine services.”
He added: “We believe the Government has again failed Section 39 workers. It has not taken the action needed to resolve this long-running dispute as a matter of urgency. Our members in Section 39 Organisations across the country now firmly believe they have no option but to ballot for industrial action. A strike may be imminent unless a swift solution can be found to this dispute.”
