The nurses' threatened overtime ban and work-to-rule over staffing shortages, due to take place on November 2nd, has been deferred for one week following a meeting yesterday with management.
The Irish Nurses' Organisation met members of the Health Service Employers' Association under the auspices of the Labour Relations Commission. A number of proposals were tabled by management, and a second meeting is to be held on Monday, November 2nd.
The INO threatened to impose the overtime ban and stop its members from performing non-nursing duties if the Government did not address staffing shortages as a matter of urgency.
Yesterday management put forward proposals which include the introduction of a national overtime agreement for all nursing staff; an improvement in the pay and conditions applicable to temporary nursing staff; and increased flexibility in the operation of the job-sharing scheme.
The INO representatives requested management to review certain aspects of the measures tabled with a view to further improvements. The management agreed, and the date for the second meeting was fixed.
As a result, the threatened overtime ban has been deferred to Monday, November 9th.
Following a separate meeting yesterday morning at the Labour Relations Commission, the Nursing Alliance, which comprises four unions, the INO, the Psychiatric Nurses' Association, SIPTU and IMPACT, referred the issues of long-service increments for staff nurses and new grading structures for ward sisters to the Labour Court for final determination.
The Nursing Alliance had met the Health Service Employers' Agency to negotiate the issues, but no agreement was reached on either.
The issues followed two recommendations made by the Commission on Nursing.
It recommended that the question of additional recognition for long service of staff nurses be examined through the established structures.
The commission also recommended that differentials and incremental annual leave in promotional grades be examined as a matter of urgency, before the end of December 1998, through the established structures. To this examination should be added the effect of the enhanced role for ward sisters and higher grades which was also recommended by the commission.