Unions representing staff in Section 39 community and voluntary organisations have been invited to attend talks at the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) with Government representatives on Monday 3rd March. This comes in the face of an ongoing SIPTU Health Division ballot of these workers for strike action.
SIPTU Sector Organiser, Damian Ginley, said: “Our members are acutely aware of the journey this pay claim has taken to date. We are currently engaged in a ballot for industrial and strike action following the failure of the outgoing Government to honour its commitments made previously at the WRC. However, it is our intention to attend these crucial talks. For us, it is essential that we receive a strong mandate in advance of any engagement so our balloting in selected locations across the country is continuing.
SIPTU’s Health Division began a ballot of up to 5,000 members working in Section 39 Organisations for industrial and strike action earlier this month. The vote will be counted on Thursday 27th February in Liberty Hall.
At the opening of the ballot, Ginley, said: “The plight of Section 39 workers took centre stage during the General Election campaign. Senior politicians from Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil were falling over themselves to offer support and solutions, in the media and their election manifestos.
“However, their fine words ring hollow when we examine the Programme for Government. The new government has failed to include an adequate commitment to address the pay injustice that Section 39 workers face. Our members’ patience has now run out; they are saying enough is enough and want to act. The pay link between the public sector and Section 39 organisations must be restored, and the Government must stop treating our members, who provide essential disability care, elder care, and home support services, as second class.
“The failure of successive governments to deliver on pay justice for Section 39 workers has left our members struggling with low wages, while the organisations they work for face relentless recruitment and retention crises that undermine services.”
He added: “We believe the Government has again failed Section 39 workers. It has not taken the action needed to resolve this long-running dispute as a matter of urgency. Our members in Section 39 Organisations across the country now firmly believe they have no option but to ballot for industrial action. A strike may be imminent unless a swift solution can be found to this dispute.”