PROSPECTS for resolving a series of disputes in the health services have improved, following the successful resolution of the ambulance drivers' dispute by the Labour Relations Commission at the weekend.
The LRC is now expected to intervene in the dispute involving the State's 3,000 paramedics. Their union, IMACT, has served strike notice for next Monday. Meanwhile, the Minister for Health, Mr Noonan, has thanked the LRC, the unions and management for their success in averting today's strike. All ambulance services are expected to operate normally from this morning.
Further disputes involving public health doctors and radiographers are pending.
The doctors are protesting over inadequate staffing levels, but radiographers are pursuing a substantial claim under the local bargaining clause of the Programme for Competitiveness and Work.
There are only 900 radiographers but they have a far greater capacity to disrupt the acute health services than IMPACT members. The IMPACT grades involve groups such as speech and language therapists, social workers, dietitians and physiotherapists.
All these groups have been encouraged by the success of the nurses in winning their dispute with the Government. IMPACT members will be making a strong case on the basis of traditional linkages with the nurses as well a radical changes in their own jobs.
It took two days of intensive talks to resolve the provincial ambulance drivers' dispute. Agreement was finally reached at midnight on Saturday.
The 530 drivers concerned won their long standing claim for parity with 90 Dublin colleagues. The latter won a 1 per cent pay increase last week, as a down payment on further productivity talks under the PCW.
The provincial drivers were also given 1 per cent, and anomalies in calculating overtime pay were resolved.
Although the weekly increase conceded is small, each provincial driver will receive £3,000 in back money, because the claim has been outstanding since April 993. In return they have agreed to an industrial peace clause which will prevent them balloting again for strike action until all negotiating procedures have been exhausted.
Both groups of ambulance drivers have still to negotiate a further 2 per cent increase due under the PCW. Talks are unlikely to take place until ambulance controllers (supervisors) conclude their negotiations under the same agreement.
Negotiations with controllers will follow the transfer of Dublin controllers to a "new state of the art" control room in Tara Street. The changes in work practices there could be significant and result in considerable pay increases.
Drivers have close relativity with controllers, but they would have to prove they have accepted similarly radical changes to receive pro rata rises. The settlement for provincial drivers also specifies that they must give similar productivity to Dublin drivers to maintain their new found parity with them, but this is likely to be less problematic than any follow on claim by drivers as a whole to the controllers.