Thousands of public servants are today taking action which will involve work to rule and refusals to carry out duties associated with vacant posts in protest at pay cuts.
Members of Impact – drawn from the HSE, Government departments and local government – as well as members of the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation will participate.
More unions are expected to join the protest in the coming weeks.
Speaking this morning, Liam Doran, general secretary of the renamed Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation, warned of further action.
"If they [the Government] think they're in a comfort zone over what they've done, then I think today starts the turning of a new page. And, if this situation isn't addressed over the coming weeks, we are looking at increasing levels of turbulence across the public service - and not just in health," Mr Doran told RTÉ radio.
Earlier, Minister for the Environment John Gormley called on the unions to reconsider and welcomed comments by Mr Kieran Mulvey of the Labour Relations Commission (LRC) who said the commission was keen to get involved in finding a way to resolve the dispute.
"We saw the effects last week and the effect on our economy when the air traffic controllers decided to take action and if that goes across all sectors as Mr Mulvey has said, then our economy is going to suffer and the recovery that we all yearn for so much will only be delayed," Mr Gormley told RTÉ's Morning Ireland.
Calling on the unions to reconsider their action and to bear in mind the future of social partnership, Mr Gormley issued a direct appeal to the head of Siptu.
"Again, I would urge Jack O'Connor and his members to please think about this - think about the future of social partnership."
"I want to see people getting around the table to see if we can sort out these difficulties."
However, questioned over comments by Tánaiste Mary Coughlan last night over the possibility of further public sector pay cuts, Mr Gormley said the prognosis for 2011 is that it was going to be another "very difficult" year.
"Having said that, the indications are that we are on the road to recovery. That is the international view."
"I think people should hold their horses and ensure that they are taking into account the best interests of the country."
Speaking yesterday, Mr Kieran Mulvey of the Labour Relations Commission (LRC) said the commission was keen to get involved with the public service unions and with public service management to review issues that have led to dispute.
“We are effectively playing by no rules and that is my concern and that is the concern I think the commission has at the moment," he said.
“We have to be more pro-active on this, ourselves and the Labour Court, in the context of avoiding and preventing the kind of incident that occurred this week.”
He was also critical of proposals by the Department of Finance to withdraw services they provide to trade unions. “ ‘When you are in a hole stop digging’, is an adage we use. To start that kind of activity against the background of industrial action is in my opinion adding fuel to the fire.”
Mr Mulvey added he would be “very nervous” of legislation that would seek to ban strikes in essential services.
Further industrial action, including strikes in selective areas, are understood to be under consideration by public sector unions in a second phase of the campaign which could take effect in the weeks ahead.
Mid-ranking civil servants, who are members of the PSEU, are scheduled to join the initial industrial action by the middle of next week.
Siptu said on Friday it would be serving notice of industrial action across the civil service, local authorities, and health and education sectors tomorrow. This proposed action would come into effect a week later, February 1st.
Lower-paid civil servants who are members of the CPSU have already been involved in industrial action for the last several days.