Up to 40,000 nurses are expected to take part in a work to rule and rolling work stoppages at hospitals across the State next week unless a dispute over their pay and working hours is resolved.
The nurses, who are members of the Irish Nurses Organisation (INO) and the Psychiatric Nurses Association (PNA), gave the Health Service Executive 21 days' notice of their intention to take industrial action earlier this month and that notice expires today. Liam Doran, general secretary of the INO, said last night his members reserved the right to begin a nationwide work to rule or rolling work stoppages "at any stage" from today. Notice of the precise action to be taken will only be given to employers a short time beforehand.
Nurses will provide emergency cover during work stoppages but the stoppages are likely to result in outpatient appointments and in elective surgery being cancelled.
Mr Doran said it was very disappointing employers had made no effort to resolve the dispute. "Regrettably the only contact we have had from the employers has been in the context of managing the dispute rather than avoiding the dispute which is very disappointing. They have made no effort to sit down and see what progress we can make on the issues," he said.
Nurses, he added, had indicated they were willing to engage in reform in return for progress on the issues but nobody was listening. "It copperfastens the view that they really don't understand what health reform really means," Mr Doran said. No action is expected by nurses over the weekend but there will be a lunchtime protest outside Cork University Hospital on Monday. There will also be lunchtime protests at the Mid Western Regional Hospital, Limerick, and at Galway's University College Hospital next Friday.
Des Kavanagh, general secretary of the PNA, said it would make sense for the employers side to settle the dispute earlier rather than later. The nurses are seeking a 10 per cent pay rise, the introduction of a 35-hour week and a special allowance for nurses working in Dublin. The Labour Court recommended last November that the nurses pursue their pay claim through benchmarking.
Brendan Mulligan, assistant chief executive of the Health Service Executive Employers Agency, claimed the nurses' proposed action was unnecessary and unjustified. "We would again call on the INO and the PNA to accept the Labour Court recommendation and have their pay claim progressed through benchmarking," he said.