THE Irish Nurses Organisation has deferred for two weeks a decision on whether to ballot its members for strike action. In the meantime, it will consult with its 20,090 members and the other nursing unions.
Last week, INO members voted by 60 per cent to 40 per cent to reject a £50 million package from the Government. However, two other nursing unions, SIPTU and the Psychiatric Nurses Association, voted to accept. Nurses in a fourth union, Impact, narrowly rejected the terms.
After a day meeting of the INO council yesterday, assistant general secretary, Ms Leonore Mrkwicka, said "while no firm date has yet been set, the ballot for industrial action is still very much on the agenda".
The two-week adjournment will be used to consult with branches, followed by a meeting of branch officers on November 25th, the day before the council convenes.
The INO will be meeting with the other three nursing unions on Friday.
"We are not rushing into anything," said Ms Mrkwicka. "We are giving our people time to reflect and discuss the implications of the situation. We have a mandate for a strike ballot from our annual delegate conference earlier this year but that will not be used before the council reconvenes."
The nursing unions are understood to have discussed the situation when they met with the Irish Congress of Trade Unions on Monday but no solutions emerged.
Last night, the SIPTU nursing officer, Mr Noel Dowling, welcomed the INO decision to "agree to a breathing space to see if there is any way of resolving the problem".
In Brussels, the Minister for Health, Mr Noonan, said he was very sorry to hear the latest offer had not been accepted. He felt the latest offer had "come close enough" to meeting nurses' aspirations in the short term.