Madam, - Seán Fallon (May 4th) totally misrepresents Siptu's position in the nurses' dispute. Siptu fully supports the claim of nurses to a 35-hour week and to better pay. It was Siptu that called for the intervention of the National Implementation Body to try and resolve the dispute and we participated fully in the NIB talks.
We have decided to pursue the claim on behalf of our nursing members through the benchmarking process and the national agreement, "Towards 2016". Our aims are the same as those of the INO and PNA.
Siptu members are not doing the work of their colleagues in the other nursing unions, or undertaking any duties that would undermine their industrial action. Our actions are consistent with what has been requested of us by the INO.
We remain available for talks and will help in any way we can to resolve this dispute in the best interests of nurses, other health service workers and the wider public. - Yours, etc,
BRENDAN HAYES, Vice-President, Siptu, Liberty Hall, Dublin 1.
Madam, - The nurses and other public sector unions are engaging in a race to the bottom regarding the amount of work they want to do and a race to the top regarding the salaries they are demanding. They should note that there are many very well qualified people out there who would love to work a 39-hour week and receive their current salaries and other benefits. If there is an anomaly with some public sector workers only doing a 35-hour week then the way to solve this is to bring them up to a 39-hour week. It should have been a feature of benchmarking that everyone works a 39-hour week. If the public sector workers had to work one year in every 10 in the private sector then we wouldn't hear a word out of them as they would then realise what a fantastic package they enjoy. It is an insult to the private sector (who, by the way, pay for everything - public sector capital spends, wages, pensions etc) for the public sector to demand more money for less work. - Yours, etc,
VINCENT LEONARD, Knocknacarra, Galway.