Leaders of the Irish Nurses' Organisation (INO) and the Psychiatric Nurses' Association (PNA) have displayed commendable judgment and restraint by rescinding a programme of work stoppages and a ban on overtime in favour of a more creative way forward. The settlement proposals may not satisfy their more militant members but, in the context of social partnership, these initiatives represent solid progress.
An escalation of industrial action, following six weeks of work-to-rule, would have caused major disruption of hospital services. That would have been in nobody's interests. Compromise is always difficult in a charged atmosphere. A balance has to be struck between industrial demands, realistic expectations and the public good. Nobody gets everything they want. It is a tribute to the work of the National Implementation Body, representing Government, trade unions and employers, that it has produced a formula that may bridge the gap between the Health Service Executive and the nursing unions.
Officials of the INO and the PNA will explain to their members the significance of the concessions on offer and the opportunities they represent for making further progress. And while they may not recommend the formula for acceptance, union leaders have described it as representing "significant progress". A reduction in the working week to 37.5 hours by June 2008, along with the establishment of an independent commission to examine how a 35-hour week can be introduced, is at the heart of the package. The pay issue will be referred to the benchmarking process, in the context of an expanded role for nurses within a reformed health service. And nurses will be asked to commit to the terms of the national pay agreement, Towards 2016.
The urgency displayed in reaching a compromise has been driven by threats of escalating industrial action and the mobilisation of an anti-Government vote by nurses. Health issues, already to the forefront of the election campaign, would have gained notoriety if hospital services were further disrupted. In spite of that pressure, Minister for Health Mary Harney has held the line on public pay and the benchmarking process. Changes in working hours will be introduced on a cost-neutral basis.
The Government is anxious that this dispute should be settled before election day. But nursing unions have suggested it may take at least a week to fully brief and ballot their members on what is on offer. In the meantime, their work-to-rule will continue. Members of the public have been advised not to contact hospitals about medical appointments as the phones may not be answered. This has been a difficult time for all concerned. The militancy of nurses and their attempt to ignore the Labour Court and resolve their claims outside of social partnership was a recipe for industrial anarchy. Nurses have valid complaints. Their role within the health service is now being re-evaluated. But change must take place on a planned and orderly basis.