Staff at voluntary organisations to be balloted on industrial action
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Thousands of staff at voluntary organisations providing health and social care services on behalf of the Government are to be balloted on industrial action following a breakdown in pay negotiations.
Unions representing workers in so-called Section 10, 39, 40, and 56 organisations notified their members on Friday of plans to undertake a ballot.
It follows negotiations with the Department of Children and the Department of Health concerning a follow up agreement to the pay deal reached last October through the Workplace Relations Commission.
Members of Congress, Forsa, Siptu, and the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation were told: “The negotiations ended on the 6 September 2024 without agreement.”
Last October, an interim agreement that averted strike action in the sector was reached.
The dispute arose because of a failure to restore the pay of staff in the voluntary organisations, in line with the pay of staff in similar roles working directly for the State.
Staff in the sector were previously paid in line with HSE staff and pay cuts were imposed on both sets of workers in 2010.
However, they were subsequently restored for HSE staff but funding was not made available to restore the pay of staff in the voluntary organisations.
Staff were informed on Friday in a joint missive from unions that there were a number of reasons why agreement could not be reached in the negotiations, including that organisations providing home care services and out-of-hours GP services would not be included in the terms of the October 2023 pay agreement.
Members were also told that there was a failure to make an offer for an increase in pay that would meet the expectations of union members working in Section 10, 39, 40, and 56 organisations and in the wider community sector.
The unions told their members that a number of steps are now to be taken, including the immediate ballot of members regarding industrial action in organisations where the pay terms of the October 2023 pay agreement have not been paid.
The unions said that in situations where funding has been provided to organisations to pay the full terms of the October agreement but the money was not passed on, “a process of consultation will commence with these members to consider next steps”.
The unions also pledged to further consult “with members across the sector to decide the most appropriate form of action in light of these developments”.