SIPTU is holding an information meeting for HSE Home Helps based in Co. Westmeath on Wednesday, 27th November, at 7.00 p.m. in the Bloomfield House Hotel, Mullingar. The meeting will discuss the recent Labour Court recommendation concerning the contracts of employment for Home Helps which establishes a new minimum threshold of working hours and curtails the outsourcing of the service. The ruling followed an intensive campaign of protests, lobbying and campaigning by SIPTU Home Help activists. There are over 200 HSE Home Help workers based in Co. Westmeath and the meeting is open to both SIPTU members and non-members . SIPTU Organiser, John Hubbard, said: “Our members and supporters held meetings with local TDsand councillors in Westmeath. They also organised well attended protests last year to highlight cuts to the service and have kept the pressure up ever since.” Home Help and local SIPTU Shop Steward, Gertrude Fitzgerald, from Moate, Co.Westmeath, said: “This Labour Court recommendation will have implications for all Home Help workers. We will have new contracts, better security of hours, and the possibility of a better future for the service. It is up to us now to take this opportunity and I would encourage all of my colleagues throughout the county to attend this meeting.” SIPTU Organiser, John Hubbard added: “This Labour Court recommendation finally puts Home Help workers on an equal footing with all other HSE employees. Now we need to ensure delivery of the gains achieved, and that is why it is so important that as many Home Helps as possible come along to this meeting.”
SIPTU Home Helps to meet in Mullingar to discuss new contracts
