Earlier this year, members of the Rehab/National Learning Network, a Section 39 Organisation, voted for industrial action in the long-running dispute related to a claim for parity of pay with workers fulfilling similar roles directly employed by the State.
SIPTU Education Sector Organiser, Karl Byrne, said: “We balloted all our members in the Rehab/National Learning Network for industrial action, including strike action, due to a management failure to implement the initial phase of the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) agreement from October 2023 which was to deliver an 8.25% pay increase.”
Since the ballot, the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science instructed SOLAS to pay the monies to the Education Training Boards for the outstanding pay rises for Rehab/National Learning Network workers. Union representatives have also engaged with the KOSI Corporation, the consultants hired by the Government to oversee the implementation of the WRC agreement, to ensure that the final payments owed by the HSE were paid in full. As a result, the majority of payments owed were paid in the August Payroll run. SIPTU continues to engage on behalf of those NLN employees who have yet to receive the full 8.25% pay increase.
Byrne said: “The refusal of the funding departments to begin the process of restoring the link to Public Sector pay scales for workers who traditionally had such a pay link led to the breakdown of talks in September. Following media coverage of Simon Harris callously dismissing the concerns of a Section 39 Worker during the election, Unions were invited back into talks in the WRC but these ended when the employer side said they had no mandate to increase funding.”
He added: “We are calling on the Government to honour its commitments by mandating its officials to negotiate for a resolution of this issue. The issue of restoring pay parity for these workers has always been central to this dispute and must be resolved. The Government negotiators are acutely aware of what is required to bring about a resolution to this long-standing dispute.”