The Government, unions and employers are to engage in intensive discussions to salvage national wage negotiations and the principle of social partnership over the next few weeks, as nurses prepare to accelerate their strike timetable.
Although the nursing unions had indicated that any strike action was likely to be on an escalating basis from late October, it is now expected that they will opt for an all-out national strike on October 18th.
The largest union, the Irish Nurses' Organisation, is to hold a special executive meeting on September 24th to consider the current ballot result.
If, as expected, the members reject the £100 million Labour Court award, the INO is expected to start a strike ballot on September 28th. This ballot would conclude by October 8th and, in the likely event of a mandate for industrial action, a national strike would begin in the health services on October 18th.
It is against this backdrop that the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, the Tanaiste, Ms Harney, and the Minister for Finance, Mr McCreevy, met leaders of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions for two hours yesterday. The meeting followed an earlier one-hour meeting by the Ministers with the Irish Business and Employers' Confederation.
The IBEC director general, Mr John Dunne, said after the meeting that employers had impressed on the Government the need for the unions to "recommit themselves to the principles" of Partnership 2000. It was now up to the Government as the employer within the public service "to get things back on track."
He said: "This means restoring credibility to public service pay bargaining and getting people to honour what they signed up for."
The ICTU general secretary, Mr Peter Cassells, said the meeting between the Government leaders and the unions had been "straight-talking. Tough things were said on both sides, but we've now agreed ways and means of developing and renewing social partnership for the future."
In a statement afterwards, the Government said the ICTU leaders had recognised "that social partnership is only possible in a climate of trust, based on honouring of commitments. It was further agreed that, in the present context, developments in any part of the public service cannot be viewed in isolation, but will have direct implications for pay and conditions generally, through established relativities. This reinforces the importance of developing a new framework for the management of public service pay in its entirety."
According to Government sources, meetings will begin at official level within the next two weeks among the Government, ICTU and IBEC. These will aim to create a new consensus through the National Development Plan, due to be published early in October, and the NESC Strategy Report, due out later this month.
Later, the INO general secretary, Mr Liam Doran, said that, while he "appreciated the efforts being made by congress, we're continuing to ballot on the Labour Court recommendation".
People kept telling nurses it was not the right time to strike, but his members now wondered, "Will the time ever be right?"