Siptu is to hold a protest outside the headquarters of the health insurer VHI in Dublin tomorrow as part of its campaign to reverse pay cuts in the private hospital sector.
Siptu and the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation have served strike notice on Mount Carmel, Mater Private and Bon Secours hospital groups over cuts in pay rates and allowances for nursing and administrative staff.
The unions say staff have had cuts of up to 5 per cent imposed "illegally".
A Sitpu spokesman said the VHI was being picketed because, he claimed, it has yet to respond to requests for information on its funding for these hospitals. “The hospital managements have cited cuts in VHI funding as the reason for the reductions in pay and allowances,” he said.