Strong criticism by the chairman of the Craft Group of Unions angered workers picketing outside Dublin hospitals yesterday.
A quote attributed to Mr Paddy Coughlan, chairman of the Local Authority and Health Board Craft Group of Unions, in the evening newspapers suggested there was just a 20p difference between what the craftworkers claimed and what the Labour Court recommended.
Mr Eoin Byrne, a plumber picketing St Mary's Hospital in the Phoenix Park, said some journalists misreported the craftworkers' claim.
"We were offered £18, not £25 like it says in some of the papers. The other money they're counting as part of the £25 is what we're owed under Partnership 2000. What we've been offered is also split up - we won't get some of it until next year."
Mr Tony Kavanagh, an electrician, said: "[Craftworkers] voted 20 to 1 against a similar deal in October. The unions came back to us with much the same offer again and still with conditions attached. They want us to vote and vote until they get what they want."
Mr Christy Rooney, also an electrician, fears "the productivity and flexibility part of the deal will give [management] the right to do what they like with us.
"We're not looking for anything more than we're entitled to under the 1979 agreement. It's an absolute disgrace what they're offering us. We're just looking for £25 or £26 with no strings attached."
The picketers claim all non-nursing personnel "fully supported" their action.
"We went out on strike at 8.30 a.m. and within 20 minutes there were 60 out on strike," said Mr Byrne. The picketers had not discouraged patients, their visitors, or medical staff from going into the hospital, he added. "Some of our own members have gone in to make sure all the safeguards are there for the patients, and we've encouraged them."
Mr Pat Curran, a Technical Engineering and Electrical Union shop steward for electricians in St James's Hospital, said yesterday's action was a protest, not a strike.
"There was no withdrawal of service, just a protest outside the gates. We said we wouldn't let it affect patients or anyone in St James's Hospital. Half of the men were working."
He too is concerned by the productivity element of the offer: "£25.26 per week is what we're entitled to under the Analogue review, no strings attached. What's been negotiated is £12 backdated from July 1st, 1997 and £6 paid out from July 1st this year. That's £18, whatever way you look at it.
"They're counting the 2 per cent national wage increase next year as part of the £25. What we should be getting is £25.26 plus the 2 per cent national wage increase.
"On top of that they want to bring in productivity measures and flexibility. They don't even know exactly how that element of the deal will work. They want us to agree to something that we don't really have the details of."
