Secretarial staff at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland are to ballot for industrial action tomorrow amid growing tensions between staff and management over work and pay conditions.
The call for a ballot by 60 staff in the Dublin college is in relation to the recent withdrawal of three jobs from the secretarial quarters, rates of pay and annual leave terms, according to Chris Rowland, education branch organiser with Siptu.
"The call for a ballot comes as a direct result of management deliberately excluding certain jobs from the agreed job evaluation process and failing to address outstanding grievances on long-service increments and annual leave," said Ms Rowland.
Two previous appearances at the Labour Relations Commission have failed to remedy workers' grievances.
Last night Siptu said they would most likely be serving strike notice following tomorrow's ballot if a written commitment is not given to reinstate three jobs and to engage in meaningful dialogue.
"Secretarial staff have run out of patience with management who has consistently attempted to frustrate the job evaluation process, so much so they believe management are not taking seriously the strongly-held view that secretarial staff are undervalued and under-rewarded for their work and that their employer has the resources to address these grievances," said Ms Rowland.
In a statement last night the college said the matter has been subject to a number of conciliation conferences and has been referred to the Labour Court in line with normal industrial relations procedures.
The college said it was surprised at the pre-emptive action of the union, particularly given the fact that the matter has been referred to the Labour Court for recommendation.