Labour Court hearing on health support staff dispute adjourns until Wednesday

Talks at the Labour Court hearing to resolve the pay dispute involving up to 10,000 health support staff working in hospitals throughout the State have been adjourned until next Wednesday.

The talks, which began last Wednesday, followed warnings by healthcare assistants, laboratory aides, technicians and porters that a one-day strike earlier this month would be followed by three days of action.

The Government, Siptu says, has failed to pay increases recommended by a job-evaluation scheme which examined whether any of the roles of the staff had changed and expanded in recent years.

The current job-evaluation scheme was agreed by the government in a side deal with Siptu as part of the negotiations of the broader Lansdowne Road public service accord in 2015. Siptu and the Government disagree on when the payments due should be made.

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Earlier talks between the trade union and public service management at the Workplace Relations Commission ended unsuccessfully.

Siptu official Paul Bell said the workers' case had been "robustly presented" during the Labour Court hearings, adding that he was satisfied that the court now has full knowledge of "our members' grievances".