Voluntary sector health and social care workers vote overwhelmingly to accept pay deal

Health and social services workers in voluntary organisations and charities have voted overwhelmingly to accept a deal struck in the middle of last month which included an 8 per cent pay rise and a commitment by the Government side to work towards a restoration of parity with public sector workers doing similar work.

Some 5,000 members of Siptu, Fórsa and the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) working for more than a dozen charities and voluntary body providing a range of health and social services on behalf of the Government were about to strike action when the deal was reached on October 17th.

The deal, however, applies to many more thousands of workers in the sector providing a wide range of essential services, often to elderly, disabled or homeless members of society. It was backed by 88 per cent of INMO members who voted, 94 per cent of Siptu members and 75 per cent of Fórsa members.

“I believe our members saw the value of the proposals and recognised that it offers the best opportunity for securing the future of funding for the Sector,” said Siptu’s Martha Buckley.

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The workers are employed by what are called Section 39, Section 10 and Section 56 bodies. The sections mentioned refer to the parts of legislation under which the organisations are contracted to provide services to health and disabilities (S39), children (S56) and homelessness (S10).

The unions had been demanding a restoration of the pay parity the staff enjoyed until the financial crisis. Since then differences in pay said to average around 12 per cent had developed. In many instances, however, the gaps involved were significantly larger and employers in the sector said they were struggling to cope with an ongoing staffing crisis as workers could were opting to avail of the better pay and conditions on offer by working directly for the HSE and other Government backed agencies.

The deal agreed fell short of the immediate restoration of parity sought but provided for a 3 per cent pay increase backdated to April, a further 2 per cent to take effect from the start of this month and a final 3 per cent to be received from March 1st next year.

Beyond that, however, the agreement recorded a Government commitment “to fully dealing with this issue before the expiry of any successor agreement to Building Momentum”.

Building Momentum is the current national public sector pay deal. Talks are about to begin on its successor.

The two sides agreed to meet again before the end of this month for further discussions on how the situation might be progressed and the unions have now asked the WRC to convene a meeting.

In the event the deal does result in there restoration of parity, many thousands of additional workers will have a direct stake in the outcome of the public sector pay talks due to get under way over the coming days.

In the meantime, the agreement lifts the threat to huge numbers of vulnerable service users that the threatened industrial action had posed but a coalition of employers in the sector that includes many of the organisation providing the services, while welcoming the ballot result, said “urgent” Government action is required to address the underlying situation.

“Our sector is still required to operate on shoestring funding,” it said. “This impedes our ability to recruit and retain sufficient qualified staff for services in physical and intellectual disability, children, older people, family care, mental health, homelessness and addiction.

“Areas requiring immediate action by Government and state agencies include lack of provision in contracts for increased employers’ PRSI and pension payments as well as absence of allocations for staff increments, allowances, on-call costs, sick pay, maternity pay and administration costs.

“Even with the new 8 per cent wage increase, significant pay disparities remain for huge numbers of our staff. It is vital, then, that proposed talks to address this issue – especially in the context of a looming new public sector pay agreement that will create further pay imbalances – are resumed and concluded as soon as possible,” it said.