Nurses vote for strike action over pay and staff shortages
The health service faces severe disruption in the new year after nurses voted overwhelmingly for strike action in a dispute over pay and staff shortages.
The public health out-of-hours system is also at risk after specialists in public health medicine voted for a work-to-rule, beginning on January 14, with potential escalation to full withdrawal from out-of-hours work.
The Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) is planning a 24-hour national work stoppage, providing just emergency and lifesaving care, with dates to be decided in January. It is only the second time in the union’s 100-year history that members will take part in a national strike.
The INMO vote, 95% in favour of industrial action, mirrors that of the Psychiatric Nurses Association (PNA) vote earlier this week.
Both unions have rejected proposals put forward in September by the Public Service Pay Commission which they say fail to address ongoing challenges of recruitment and retention.
The INMO’s executive council will meet on January 7 and 8 to determine dates for a 24-hour national strike. The PNA will present a plan for industrial action to a meeting of its board, which meets on January 10.
Nurses and midwives last engaged in strike action in 1999.
INMO general secretary Phil Ní Sheaghdha said its members are “the lowest paid graduate professionals in the health service”. According to the INMO, a staff nurse is on €36,383 after five years, while occupational therapists and speech and language therapists earn €42,965 five years in.
“This vote reflects a deep frustration in our professions, which the Government cannot continue to ignore,” she said.
A spokesperson for Health Minister Simon Harris said it was his belief industrial action should be avoided and parties should work together to avert such action.
Ina Kelly, Irish Medical Organisation (IMO) Public Health chairwoman, said specialists in public health medicine want the same recognition as their consultant colleagues, as they also undergo higher specialist training, but have lower remuneration rates.
The IMO is calling on the Department of Health to share the Crowe Howarth Review of Public Health Medicine with the union and agree a plan of engagement on the overdue report.
Specialists in public health medicine look after population health, including immunisation programmes and screening.
