Teachers back nurses in pay dispute
Secondary school teachers voiced their support today for the nurses’ campaign for better pay and working conditions.
Delegates at the Association of Secondary School Teachers in Ireland (ASTI) annual conference in Sligo unanimously passed a motion backing the rights of the 44,000 nurses and midwives to negotiate outside the benchmarking process.
The move came as hospital managers and representatives of the Irish Nurses Organisation (INO) and Psychiatric Nurses Association (PNA) continued to hold talks on contingency plans ahead of a series of work stoppages planned for tomorrow.
ASTI is the first union in the Irish Congress of Trade Unions to support the nurses’ campaign.
“In solidarity with and support of our fellow trade unionists, Convention supports the right of the INO and PNA to negotiations outside the benchmarking process as the deficiencies and inflexibility of the current benchmarking arbitration process must not be used to isolate, obstruct and demean a caring profession,” said the ASTI motion.
More than 1,000 nurses attended the one hour stoppages at hospitals in Dublin and Tipperary yesterday.
Thousands more are due to picket from 11am to noon tomorrow at Dublin’s Beaumont Hospital, St Ita’s Psychiatric Service and St Joseph’s Intellectual Disability Service in Portrane, Roscommon General Hospital and Roscommon Mental Health Services.
But the unions, who are demanding a pay increase of 10.5% and a 35-hour working week, have vowed that all emergency and critical care will be provided during the stoppages.
Meanwhile, there is no sign of resolution between nurses and the Health Service Executive, which has refused to meet the union’s demands.
INO spokesman Liam Doran insisted the work-to-rule would continue until employers named a date for the introduction of a 35-hour week and until the issue of pay anomaly was resolved.
Barry O’Brien of the HSE said a reduction in working hours could only happen if a detailed risk assessment study took place, adding there was no prospect of a pay offer being made to nurses outside of benchmarking.
