As many as 28,000 healthcare workers have voted to take industrial action over the Health Service Executive's (HSE) recruitment freeze and its impact on services.
The employees,who are members of the Impact trade union, voted by 85 per cent to 15 per cent to sanction industrial action.
The union members, who include health professionals and therapists, social care workers and administrative and managerial staff, said it will refuse to co-operate with HSE advisors or the Executive's 'transformation programme' from 21st May.
The employees will also block non-emergency overtime and out-of-hours work and refuse to cover work and posts affected by the recruitment freeze. The union was warned that, as a result of the recruitment freeze, promised improvements in areas like primary care, disability services, mental health services and care for older people have been seriously delayed.
The union said this morning it also plans other forms of action, including work stoppages.
The staffing freeze is having a devastating effect on services and staff - Impact national secretary Kevin Callinan
Impact says its action will minimise the effect on patients and services, as the action focuses on the HSE's top management.
National Director of Human Resources with the HSE Martin McDonald said the threat of industrial action was “entirely regrettable”.
“The HSE is required to deliver health services within the financial resources provided by the Government for 2008,” Mr McDonald said.
“This poses many challenges not least of which is to ensure that resources are targeted at front-line services.
“The threat of industrial action, which is outlawed under the current national agreement, Towards 2016, is the cause of unnecessary concern and worry to those who avail of both community and hospital services.”
He called on Impact, which represents managers and other grades, to withdraw the threat of industrial action and invited it to talks “with a view to agreeing measures which can be implemented to ensure the health service lives within its budget in 2008”.
The HSE also rejected the claim there was an embargo on recruitment in the health service and said 900 jobs had been filled since January.
In September 2007, the HSE announced a recruitment embargo in response to spending overruns in hospitals and refunds for drugs and medicines. Although the spending overrun was not related to staffing costs, the embargo banned any new appointments of staff, temps, agency workers, locums, relief staff and overtime, as well as promotions, new acting up arrangements and career break returns.
The HSE's recruitment embargo, introduced without any consultation with trade unions or staff representatives, was officially ended last Christmas.
However, it was replaced in January by a new strict employment control process under which only critical frontline vacancies which arose before 2008 could be filled - and only if other posts which became vacant were suppressed.
Impact national secretary Kevin Callinan said the union was seeking an end to the current recruitment restrictions and respect for existing agreements and third party recommendations about staff working conditions.
"The staffing freeze is having a devastating effect on services and staff. The effect of the cuts has so far varied, depending on where vacancies have arisen, but it's only a matter of time before all services and staff are affected.
"As well as curtailing existing services, the freeze has delayed promised improvements in areas like primary care, mental health services and care for older people. Our members find this intolerable, and experience tells us that more cuts in services and staffing are likely unless we take a stand," he said.
The union also accuses the HSE of ignoring, or refusing to implement, staff agreements and that this has undermined a wide range of working conditions including cover for absences, promotions, acting up, career break returns, and access to term-time and other schemes.
"Unless the HSE changes its approach, staff will have no guarantee against further imposed changes in their terms and conditions of employment," said Mr Callinan.