Thousands of nurses have voted overwhelmingly to support a mass day of industrial action later this month, it was announced today.
The Irish Congress of Trade Unions advised the action because Government and business leaders has declined to honour the national pay agreement reached five months ago.
Members of the Irish Nurses Organisation voted 76 per cent in favour of the campaign, which could see nurses stage a walkout or operate a work-to-rule on March 30th.
The union said its executive council would now decide the exact nature of the action to be taken, but pledged essential services would be maintained.
Liam Doran, INO general secretary, said: “The result of this ballot again portrays, consistent with the result of other trade union ballots, that our members feel that the present approach of government is unfair, uneven and will not address the country’s difficulties while maintaining essential public services.”
Mr Doran said the INO’s 40,000 members were also concerned about the cutbacks planned for the health service.
“Agreement on a national recovery, involving all parties, is our preferred way of addressing our problems,” Mr Doran said. “Any such agreement must comprehend measures to deal with our economic difficulties while protecting our public health services.”
The Health Service Executive said any threat of industrial action is unwelcome and the cause of unnecessary concern. In a statement, the body said it is hoping to hold a meeting with all the health service trade unions to establish the nature of any industrial action.
“The HSE is seeking to hold an early meeting with all the health service trade unions to establish the nature of any industrial action ... and the contingency measures that will be put in place to safeguard essential services, should these be threatened,” it said.