ABOUT 9,500 health sector workers in Dublin have voted overwhelmingly for industrial action in the event of the Health Service Executive (HSE) seeking to introduce changes in pay and conditions without agreement.
Ninety-eight per cent of members of Siptu’s Dublin health services branch, who include porters, caterers, security staff and healthcare assistants, voted in favour of industrial action.
No date has been set as of yet for the commencement of any industrial action.
Siptu health sector organiser Paul Bell said the impetus for the ballot had come from comments made by a senior HSE manager to the effect that health sector workers were inefficient, too expensive and inflexible.
“He went on to say he intended tearing up or ignoring collective agreements, which enshrine our agreed terms and conditions of employment, and . . . to ignore existing third-party procedures for resolving disputes,” he said.
“This was tantamount to a declaration of war . . . We had only one way of preparing for such an attack and that was to obtain a strike mandate,” Mr Bell said.
The vote for industrial action comes against the backdrop of proposals by HSE management to introduce significant changes in working practices for staff as part of a bid to save more than €320 million this year.
Mr Bell said that the timing of the attack on his members by the senior manager coincided with efforts by senior trade union officials to negotiate a framework document and protocol agreement, which would allow new efficiencies to be introduced on a partnership basis, with the right to full consultation for workers affected in each hospital and agency.
An outline of this framework was reached between health sector unions and management over Christmas. However, its implementation was conditional on talks with the Government on a number of high-level policy issues.
Mr Bell said that as a result of the ballot result, the union was now equipped to protect members “should management implement their threats”.
He said that his members were willing to engage in far-reaching discussions with employers and would not be found wanting. He said that the proper way to do this was not “by declaring war on workers but by a speedy and concentrated engagement to identify and address issues”.
“Our members are not afraid to make sacrifices in order to protect and improve the health service for the general public. We have already demonstrated our willingness to help our nation’s economy by accepting a one-year pay freeze. However, it is important for health service employers to recognise that sustainable progress can only come through dialogue and engagement.
“We therefore call on the HSE to continue to engage with us to bring about a mutually acceptable outcome to the great crisis we are facing,” he said.