SEVERAL THOUSAND nurses, porters, cleaners and other healthcare staff in the west of Ireland who are members of Siptu are to ballot for strike action in protest at proposed HSE cutbacks.
Siptu’s senior health organiser Paul Bell said yesterday that it was necessary to hold a protective strike ballot “in case management decides to act unilaterally and implement the sort of cuts being leaked to the media in recent days”.
Following a meeting between HSE management in the midwest (which forms part of the greater HSE western region) last week, unions warned that 300 or 400 staff on temporary contracts could be affected by the new cutbacks.
The HSE said it had informed staff representatives in the midwest that it would be examining all temporary contracts.
“Currently that examination process has not been completed and there are no indications of staff numbers that will be affected”, it said last week.
The HSE is considering cutbacks in the west in a bid to tackle a multi-million euro financial deficit.
Mr Bell said that he had written to the Labour Relations Commission warning of the potential for a serious dispute and seeking its assistance.
Any dispute involving the implementation of HSE cutbacks in the west would represent the first since the ratification of the Croke Park agreement last month which aimed to bring stability to industrial relations in the public service.
Mr Bell said yesterday that “as HSE West does not seem to think the agreement applies to them our first port of call in this dispute must be the Labour Relations Commission”.
“Otherwise we may find dozens, if not hundreds of our members sacked”, he said.
In a letter sent to Siptu shop stewards in the HSE West region on Friday, Mr Bell said that he was requesting them “to commence immediate preparation for a ballot of all your members for protective strike action”.
“This response to the ongoing speculation, which has been generated by the HSE failure to engage with the constituent unions, is deemed necessary in order for our members to be included in the process of generating efficiencies within the HSE West region and also protection of employment.”
Mr Bell yesterday accused HSE management of “playing mind games” with healthcare staff in the west.
He said that Siptu wanted the HSE to set out its plans for dealing with the deficit, to explain how it managed to run up the deficit and to specify how its proposed measures would impact on job security for members.
Unions have already argued that plans to let go staff on temporary contracts would “fly in the face of the Croke Park deal”.
Mr Bell said that he could understand that local management in HSE West faced enormous pressure from above to achieve savings of at least €68 million as quickly as possible but they “will not achieve their objectives by simply passing the buck to our members in the form of job cuts – especially as our members deliver some of the most vital frontline services, despite being amongst the lowest paid workers in the sector”.