Around 200 hospital attendants are planning a 24-hour work stoppage in seven non-acute hospitals around Dublin tomorrow in a dispute over pay parity.
The dispute is set to hit services at St Mary’s Hospital, Phoenix Park, St Ita’s Psychiatric Services, Portrane, St Brendan’s, Grangegorman, Bru Chaoimhin Home, Cork Street, St Colmcille’s, Loughlinstown and Clonskeagh Hospital, Clonskeagh.
SITPU said the attendants are seeking pay parity with workers employed in acute hospitals in the Dublin area.
Mr Raymond O’Reilly, SIPTU’s Dublin health service official, said it was "regrettable that we have to resort to this form of action but our members’ patience has run out".
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He said the dispute centres on a 2000 agreement with the Health Service Employers Agency (HSEA) to pay an eight per cent award to hospital attendants in the seven acute Dublin hospitals.
Non-acute hospital staff were not included, and efforts to have the payments extended to them have failed, despite assurances from the HSEA, he said.
"Not only have the employers rejected our efforts to examine how this could be done but they have unilaterally extended the payment to attendants in five other voluntary hospitals," Mr O’Reilly said.
He called for the HSEA and the Department of Health and Children to enter into "meaningful discussion" or the industrial action would "escalate on a rolling basis".