Dispute over pay restoration in State-funded voluntary bodies may widen

A dispute over pay restoration for thousands of staff in State-funded voluntary organisations involved in the provision of health and social services may widen to involve a number of additional trade unions.

Members of Siptu working in what are known as Section 39 organisations are scheduled to go on strike on September 18th.

However, at a meeting on Tuesday the trade unions Fórsa and Unite said they would be consulting with members “to consider what action is appropriate in light of the failure of Government to address the issue of pay restoration for workers in Section 39 organisations”.

Speaking after the meeting, the general secretary of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions Patricia King said workers in Section 39 organisations had their pay cut in line with cuts imposed on workers in the public sector.

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“Now that pay is being restored in the public sector workers in Section 39 organisations should also receive the terms of the public sector pay agreement.”

She called on the Minister for Finance and the Minister for Health immediately to make available resources to resolve this dispute.

Siptu had signalled that it could announce further strikes in Section 39 bodies in the weeks ahead.

Siptu said strike action had already been backed by members in a number of Section 39 organisations including: Rehab Ireland and the Cheshire Foundation – which are national operations – as well as at Western Care in Mayo, St Joseph’s Foundation in Cork, SOS Kilkenny, Ability West in Galway, Wicklow Community & Family Services, SOS Workshops, Marymount University Hospital and Hospice in Cork.

Following the breakdown of talks on the issue in July, Siptu said the Department of Health and HSE had refused to sanction a “confidence-building” payment of the €1.5 million to pay its members 1 per cent of pay restoration in October 2018.

Staff in the public service received a 1 per cent pay rise earlier this year and will receive a second 1 per cent pay boost in October

Staff in many Section 39 organisations experienced pay cuts similar to those imposed on public service personnel working in State agencies offering similar services after the economic crash, the union maintained.

However, Siptu argued that unlike public servants working in the health and social care sectors, those in Section 39 organisations had not been offered pay restoration proposals.

The Department of Health and the HSE had consistently contended that staff working in Section 39 organisations were not public servants and were not covered by public service pay deals.

A strike in a number of Section 39 bodies over pay restoration was deferred in February to allow the HSE to carry out an audit regarding remuneration in the various organisations.

The HSE audit of cumulative pay for staff in a group of Section 39 bodies found that pay cuts averaging 4.66 per cent were put in place for employees in 2010.

Siptu said the HSE estimated that full pay restoration across all Section 39 organizations would cost €68 million in total.