THE Irish Nurses Organisation has contingency plans to escalate its dispute with the Government if members vote to reject the latest settlement terms.
The general secretary of the INO told members at a mass meeting in Dublin's Gresham Hotel last night that the union would not be going into a dispute unprepared.
But he also warned them of the serious potential consequences of a strike, including the possibility of emergency legislation to ban strikes in the health services.
The mood of the meeting, one of a series called to explain the latest £87 million package available to nurses, was subdued.
"I think it will be accepted, but it will be 50-50," one of a group of older nurses said as she entered the meeting. Even among younger nurses the mood was one of optimism or, at worst, scepticism.
"I suppose there isn't much further we can push it," said one young staff nurse, "unless..."
The unsaid word was strike and while some nurses felt the strike should have gone ahead last Monday week, they were less certain now.
The commitment by the Minister for Health, Mr Noonan, to accept unconditionally the recommendations of the new nursing commission has had a considerable impact.
"I hope it's accepted," said one middle-aged nurse from a major Dublin acute hospital. "If we don't vote for the Labour Court recommendation we'll lose the commission."
A younger nurse was less certain about the benefits of the package. "The differential is a big problem. I've friends two years into sisters' posts and they find they've lost out. There will be staff nurses now earning more than them. We should be paid on the work we do."
She was ready to go on strike, last Monday week, even though she admits it was "such a difficult thing to do. The fact that in any other job you can just walk off and we can't. We have to look after people. But we had made all the arrangements and we would have done it."
The INO's Dublin branch is the largest in the State, with 8,000 members. If the mood as members filed out of the Gresham last night is anything to go by, there is a good chance that the nurses will accept the latest offer.