Dublin hospitals are likely to be targeted for unofficial strike action by craft workers and their supporters next week.
The craft group of unions has appealed to members to pass the pickets being placed by what it calls an unrepresentative minority.
The Local Authority and Health Boards Craft Group is sending ballot papers this weekend to its 4,500 members, which will contain details of the proposals on offer. The chairman, Mr Paddy Coughlan, said last night that the terms bring the pay increase on offer to within 20p a week of the original union claim for £25.26p.
"Will these unofficial pickets take responsibility if someone dies in a hospital without even waiting to see what the offer is?" he asked.
"We are appealing to them to await the outcome of the ballot. There is nothing to be lost by complying with the democratic process," he said. "These pickets are completely undemocratic."
He also said one of the features of the deal that is most objectionable to the unofficial strikers, the Main Trade Makes Good productivity agreement, has been operational in the Dublin area for about three years and is working successfully.
A worrying development yesterday was a request by SIPTU for clarification of its own analog agreement for nearly 30,000 general operatives in the local authorities and health services.
The issues relate to work rosters, starting times, flexibility, minimum relief rates for casual staff and the use of contractors.
It remains to be seen if these issues can be resolved easily. The SIPTU national industrial secretary, Mr Matt Merrigan, said last night his own union's ballot would not begin until after the clarifications had been dealt with.
While the terms of the analog agreement are favourable, it remains to be seen if the unions can regain the ground lost to the militants.
Mr Coughlan said that besides the pay increase, craft workers were receiving three extra days' holiday a year, a lump sum of £200 for the purchase of tools, improvements in sick leave and the prospect of additional promotions in the service.
"Critically, for the first time ever, the employers have agreed that the next analog review will commence on October 1st, 2000," he said.
The Minister for Health, Mr Cowen, joined trade union leaders in expressing his concern at the effect unofficial strike action by craft workers was having on hospital services. At the Irish Nurses' Organisation conference in Wexford, he said: "My concern is very much with the patients".
He called for "proper procedures and due process" to be observed. Mr Cowen said agreement had been reached in the Labour Court to defer industrial action, pending a ballot of workers. This should be respected "in the interests of proper industrial relations practice".