Unions representing 40,000 nurses will meet in Dublin this morning to discuss what action they should take to vent their anger following last week's rejection by the Labour Court of their claim for pay rises and a shorter working week.
The Irish Nurses' Organisation (INO) and the Psychiatric Nurses' Association (PNA) will hold a press conference after their meeting at which they are expected to announce that a pay rally planned for the Helix theatre in Dublin next week will go ahead.
Whether they will also favour industrial action remains to be seen. Neither union was commenting yesterday.
However, the INO has already said the failure to fund the pay claim could have repercussions for the Government at the next election.
The Labour Court issued its ruling on Friday. It said the claim for a 10.6 per cent pay rise for all nursing and midwifery grades to bring them into line with social care workers could only be processed through benchmarking.
It also rejected a claim for a special allowance for nurses working in Dublin, and said to concede to the unions' demand for a 35-hour working week "would have profound consequences for both healthcare delivery and costs" unless effective balancing measures could be put in place.