Steve Ford, Nursing Times, April 14, 2010 A major Irish nursing union has recommended its members reject a government deal that guaranteed wages would not be cut in return for acceptance of service reforms. The executive council of the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation announced yesterday that it had unanimously rejected the government’s pay offer. The Irish Health Service Executive had guaranteed no pay cuts until at least 2014, no compulsory redundancies and a mechanism for restoring previous pay rates. But these guarantees were reliant on staff accepting widespread work practice reforms. ... Irish

BreakingNews.ie, April 13, 2010 The Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) is this afternoon recommending that its members reject the public sector pay and reform deal. The INMO Executive says the Croke Park Agreement fails to guarantee that there will be no further pay cuts. The Executive of SIPTU is also meeting this afternoon to decide its position on the pay deal. Speaking this lunchtime, INMO General Secretary Liam Doran said: "In proposing the rejection of these proposals it must be noted the INMO is not immediately moving to a more intensive phase of industrial action." ... Nurses

Eilish O'Regan, Irish Independent, April 13, 2010 The union representing psychiatric nurses is to call on its members to vote against the new pay-and-reform deal. The Psychiatric Nurses Association (PNA) will make the recommendation to its 6,500 members at its annual conference next week. Industrial relations officer Seamus Murphy confirmed yesterday that the executive has rejected the deal amid fears there are no guarantees that further pay cuts will not be imposed. The union is not a member of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU) and would have to decide how it will proceed should it reject the deal. ... Psychiatric

Colm Heatley & Ian Guider, Bloomberg, November 24, 2009 Irish government employees are staging the biggest strike in at least three decades today, with about 250,000 workers protesting against plans to cut pay to contain the budget deficit. Nurses, teachers and tax officials are among those taking part in the 24-hour nationwide stoppage over what labor unions have said are “vicious” cost-cutting plans by the government. Union officials have threatened further strikes if talks with the government on an alternative savings plan fail. Ireland, once Europe’s most dynamic economy, has been hit by a property crash and the global recession ... Irish

Fergus Black, Irish Independent, October 23, 2009 The countdown to a winter of industrial chaos across the public sector began in earnest yesterday with plans for a 24-hour strike involving thousands of frontline workers next month. Already, 100,000 public service employees, including nurses, local authority workers, firefighters and prison officers have separately begun balloting for industrial action, up to and including strike, in the face of government threats to further cut public sector pay and services. Gardai, who are precluded from going on strike, promised "appropriate action" in support of the campaign ... One-day

Olivia Kelly, Irish Times, October 23, 2009 Unions representing some 100,000 public sector workers are balloting their members on industrial action, including strikes, if the Government proceeds with plans to introduce further cuts in pay and services. Representatives of six unions which have formed the 24/7 Frontline Service Alliance held a joint meeting in Liberty Hall, Dublin yesterday at which they decided to escalate their opposition to cuts. The group, which represents nurses, gardaí, firefighters and prison officers, said it did not want to take industrial action but would do so if the “savage” cuts proposed in the McCarthy report were implemented. ... Public

Ireland Online, October 22, 2009 The stand-off between Government and unions over pay cuts worsened today as more than 100,000 frontline public sector workers revealed plans to vote on industrial action. Four unions representing nurses, firefighters, ambulance drivers and prison officers will ballot on strikes to prepare for action if the Government slashes wages by €1.3bn. The 24/7 Frontline Service Alliance warned they will be ready to disrupt vital services before the December Budget. Liam Doran, Irish Nurses Organisation chief, insisted the thousands of workers were not determined to strike. ... Rift

Dan White, Evening Herald, October 22, 2009 With the government kowtowing to AIB over who should be its next chief executive, it is hardly surprising that the public sector trade unions are fiercely opposing planned pay cuts. If the government wants to push through public sector pay cuts for nurses and gardai it must get tough with the fat cats. Government has just told the trade unions that it intends to shave €1.3bn off the €20bn public sector pay bill next year, a reduction of 6.5pc. The reaction from the trade unions was one of natural outrage, with plans for public rallies and a work stoppage. ... We

RTÉ, October 22, 2009 The four unions who are members of the Frontline Service Alliance and are permitted to ballot for industrial action will begin carrying out ballots by the end of the week. The two Garda representatives' bodies who are not legally permitted to ballot for industrial action said they will consider other appropriate forms of industrial action. The Frontline Alliance represents almost 100,000 workers including gardaí, nurses and prison officers. The joint executives of Frontline were meeting at Liberty Hall in Dublin today. ... Frontline

Belfast Telegraph, October 22, 2009 The Frontline Services Alliance is warning that it will stage the most significant strike action ever seen in this country if the Government pushes ahead with planned cuts to pay and services. The group, which represents Gardai, nurses, prison officers, soldiers and fire-fighters, has today announced plans for a march to the Dail on November 11th. The protest will be conducted by 1,000 of its members who are off-duty at the time. The alliance will also join ICTU's series of mass rallies in eight locations across the country on November 6th. ... Frontline

Martin Wall, Irish Times, October 7, 2009 The Irish Nurses Organisation (INO) is to ballot members on industrial action to protest against possible further cuts in pay. The INO, which represents more than 40,000 nurses, said the outcome of the nationwide ballot would be considered by its executive council on November 3rd. This would be just before the start of a planned campaign by the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (Ictu) against cuts in pay and services which will begin with a day of action on November 6th. The INO said that the purpose of the ballot was to seek a mandate for industrial action in the event of any attempts, by the Government or public service employers ... INO

Ocean FM, June 17, 2009 The HSE has issued a statement in response to the decision by nurses at Sligo General Hospital to accept Labour Court recomendations, in a bid to resolve the on-going dispute at the facility. Members of the Irish Nurses Organisation and SIPTU voted overwhelmingly in favour of accepting the proposals. The statement says that the nurses unions have notified hospital management that their members accept the Labour Court Recommendations. ... HSE

Ocean FM, June 16, 2009 Sligo/North Leitrim Fianna Fail TD, Eamon Scanlon is urging the Health Service Executive and management at Sligo General Hospital to accept Labour Court Recommendations in a bid to resolve the on-going dispute at the facility. The call comes following the acceptance by nurses yesterday of the proposals. One of the main recommendations is that an independent review will be carried out by an agreed expert into staffing levels at the hospital. ... Call

Gary Culliton, Irish Medical Times, June 16, 2009 Members of the Irish Nurses Organisation, who recently engaged in one day of industrial action at Sligo General Hospital, have voted by over 90%, in favour of the recent Labour Court Recommendation. Nurses and Midwives had taken the action in an effort to achieve safe staffing levels in Sligo General Hospital where a number of temporary staff had been let go and management had proposed further cuts in nursing staff as cost containment measures. Members of the INO and SIPTU deferred a second day of action in order to have their grievances heard at an urgent Labour Court hearing. ... INO

Marese McDonagh, Irish Times, June 16, 2009 Almost 700 nurses at Sligo General Hospital have voted by a wide margin in favour of Labour Court recommendations aimed at averting further industrial action over staffing levels at the hospital. Last month nurses staged a one-day strike at the hospital and threatened to escalate their action if  the staffing issue was not resolved. But while 95 per cent of Siptu members voted for the recommendations, the  union’s local health services organiser Padraig Peyton warned that management must implement the Labour Court package “in its entirety”. “Any changes must be negotiated,” he stressed. ... Nurses