SIPTU representatives have today (Friday, 14th September) confirmed that thousands of Section 39 health and social care workers will participate in a one day national strike next Tuesday (18thSeptember) to highlight their claim for full pay restoration. A demonstration to be addressed by ICTU General Secretary, Patricia King, outside the Department of Health in Dublin will take place from noon on the same day. SIPTU Health Division Organiser, Paul Bell, said: “Our members deferred strike action last February at the request of the Minister for Health, Simon Harris, to allow for a Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) process to be initiated. The process was designed to allow for an orderly resolution to our members’ legitimate dispute. The process agreed between the parties in February resulted in the gathering of data from fifty nominated Section 39 employers which confirmed that none of these organisations had the necessary financial resources to commence pay restoration.” He added: “What is most staggering about this dispute is that An Taoiseach, Leo Varadkar, confirmed on the floor of Dáil Eireann that these workers, many of them low paid, have an established pay link with the public service and as such are entitled to pay restoration in line with directly employed counterparts, under the FEMPI legislation. It should be remembered thatDáil Eireann voted unanimously in favour of a Fianna Fail private members’ motion seeking pay restoration for these workers. It is incomprehensible to our members that the Government and HSE acknowledge that the monies are owed, yet will not pay them. “The WRC process did produce a formula of how Section 39 organisations could make applications for the funding necessary to pay our members. SIPTU, ICTU and other unions have agreed that this proposed formula is acceptable. However, the formula can only work with initial funding in the region of €4 million. It is also important to recognise that this campaign for pay justice has received cross party support, including from disabilities minister, Finian McGrath, and massive public backing.”
SIPTU will not allow Section 39 workers battle to pay justice to be ignored
