The craft group of unions has dissociated itself strongly from yesterday's unofficial action by members of the Technical, Engineering and Electrical Union in Waterford. The secretary of the group, Mr Finbarr Maguire, who is also a senior official of the TEEU, said the action being taken had no sanction from the group or from the TEEU.
"As far as the group is concerned we have deferred industrial action and put settlement terms for the dispute out to ballot. This action is totally unofficial."
The Health Service Employers' Association's chief executive, Mr Gerard Barry, was extremely critical of the action. It could not be justified, he said. "They showed a total disregard for the welfare of patients in Ardkeen and other hospitals in the area."
SIPTU and the other craft unions which had been involved in brokering last-minute agreements to avert a national strike in the health services and local authorities, were not commenting publicly on events in Waterford. But they were known to be annoyed at the action of TEEU members at local level.
While the union has blamed poor communications for the unofficial action, SIPTU only concluded negotiations with management at 8.30 p.m. on Sunday, yet it still managed to notify members of the decision to defer strike action before 8 a.m. yesterday. In contrast, the craft unions concluded their negotiations at 5 p.m. on Friday.
Even more puzzling is the apparent reaction of TEEU members in Waterford to the terms on offer. Both the craft group and SIPTU managed to achieve all the main targets they set themselves.
On the pay front, the original craft claim was for a pay rise of £25.26p a week. They achieved a phased pay rise worth £24.84p by July 1st, 1999. Of this, £12 was backdated to July 1st, 1997. They also made considerable gains in non-pay areas.