IOL, June 15, 2009 Nurses and midwives at Sligo General Hospital have voted overwhelmingly in favour of a Labour Court recommendation in their dispute over staffing levels. Workers have already engaged in a day of industrial action after temporary staff members were let go and management proposed further cuts. The Labour Court's recommendation includes an offer of re-employment with the HSE for the 19 temporary nurses that were let go. It also involves the continued employment of all temporary staff until there is a review of staffing levels.

Irish Nurses Organisation, June 15, 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

Ocean FM, June 15, 2009 A result is due later today on the nurses ballot in the on-going dispute at Sligo General Hospital. Members of SIPTU and the Irish Nurses Organisation have been voting for the past week on what their next course of action will be in the row over job losses and staff shortages. The Labour Relations Court issued recommendations following an emergency hearing last month. One of the suggestions was that an independent review be carried out by an agreed expert. ... Result

Irish Health, May 26, 2009 A strike by nurses at Sligo General Hospital due to take place tomorrow has been deferred. Following talks yesterday at the Labour Relations Commission, the INO and SIPTU nursing unions agreed to a LRC recommendation to defer the strike action pending referral of the dispute to the Labour Court. The dispute is over staffing levels at Sligo Hospital. The nursing unions say planned staff cuts at the hospital will affect patient safety. ... Sligo

Ireland Online, May 26, 2009 Nurses at Sligo General Hospital have postponed strike action planned for tomorrow pending a Labour Court hearing into their grievances. The nurses mounted a stoppage last week and were planning a 12-hour strike tomorrow as part of a dispute over what they say are serious staff shortages at the hospital. Nursing unions and the HSE met for talks on the matter yesterday under the auspices of the Labour Relations Commission, but no resolution was agreed. The LRC has now recommended that the matter be referred to the Labour Court.

RTÉ, May 26, 2009 Strike action planned by nurses at Sligo General Hospital has been deferred pending an emergency hearing of the Labour Court. Nurses staged a ten-hour strike last Thursday and had planned another strike tomorrow. Representatives of the Irish Nurses Organisation, SIPTU and the Health Service Executive attended talks at the Labour Relations Commission last night in an effort to come to an agreement. No resolution was reached, but both sides agreed to an LRC proposal to go to an emergency hearing of the Labour Court in Dublin later this week. Nurses are protesting over what they say are low staffing levels at the hospital. © RTÉ 2009

Charlie Taylor, Irish Times, May 25, 2009 Talks aimed at resolving a dispute at Sligo General Hospital are due to get under way later today. Nurses are to stage a 12.5 hour stoppage on Wednesday amid claims that jobs cuts introduced by the Health Service Executive (HSE) are putting staff under increasing pressure. Elective procedures scheduled at the hospital are to be postponed and measures to deal with acute surgical cases are being considered by management at Sligo General ahead of the planned stoppage. ... LRC

Joanne McCarthy, Irish Health, May 25, 2009 Talks aimed at resolving the dispute between nurses and the HSE at Sligo General Hospital are due to take place today. The dispute is in relation to staffing levels. The nurses intend to proceed with another day-long all out strike on Wednesday, May 27. This follows a 10 hour all-out strike, which took place last Thursday. “We have accepted the invitation on the grounds that, as with all disputes, a negotiated resolution will be required. We will commit ourselves fully to such negotiations. However, the commitment of our members to ensure safe staffing levels remains steadfast,” said Noel Treanor, INO industrial relations officer. ... Sligo

Elaine Edwards, Irish Times, May 24, 2009 Talks aimed at resolving the dispute over staffing levels at Sligo General Hospital will recommence tomorrow, unions said today. The Irish Nurses’ Organisation said it had accepted an invitation to the talks facilitated by the Labour Relations Commission. Nurses and midwives at the hospital took strike action last Thursday and had indicated they would hold another stoppage next Wednesday. “In the interim the LRC have intervened and both parties have agreed to attend negotiations,” an INO statement said. ... LRC

Press Association, May 23, 2009 Nurses will be playing roulette with the lives of patients if they stage a day-long strike at Sligo General Hospital on Wednesday, health chiefs have warned. The Irish Nurses Organisation (INO), which also held a 10-hour stoppage on Thursday, claim job cuts by the Health Service Executive are putting its members under increasing pressure. The INO said 19 nurses at Sligo General Hospital were either sacked or didn't have their contracts renewed. Copyright © 2009 The Press Association. All rights reserved.

Irish Times, May 22, 2009 The HSE has accused nurses of a “gross dereliction” of their professional duties after a decision by staff at Sligo General Hospital to stage a second strike next week. Just eight nurses were on duty at the hospital yesterday after a decision to strike to highlight what they say are unsafe staffing levels. In a statement, the HSE said it had been advised that a 12 ½ hour strike by nurses will take place next Wednesday. It said this was “a gross dereliction of the professional duties of nurses to their patients. “The HSE is satisfied that the current nursing staffing levels in [the hospital] are sufficient to meet the requirements of patients needs.” ... HSE

Nurses from Sligo General Hospital go on strike yesterday in a bid to rehire 19 sacked temporary staff. Marese McDonagh & Pat Flynn, Irish Independent, May 22 2009 Nurses who yesterday staged a strike at a major hospital warned they would escalate their protest against staff cutbacks. The Health Service Executive (HSE) has accused the nurses of being reckless and of putting patients' lives at risk after unions refused to provide cover on the wards. The Irish Nurses' Organisation (INO), meanwhile, has accused management at Sligo General Hospital (SGH) of trying to break the strike and of bullying nurses. ... Striking

Belfast Telegraph, May 22, 2009 Nursing unions at Sligo General Hospital are meeting today to decide whether to escalate their campaign of industrial action. More than 200 workers staged an all-out strike at the hospital yesterday as part of a dispute with management over staffing levels. The Irish Nurses Organisation says it is not ruling out further strikes, possibly as early as next week, unless something is done to address the concerns of its members. The organisation says patient safety is being put at risk by a major staff shortage at the hospital. ©belfasttelegraph.co.uk

Jo Tully, INO Executive member, May 21, 2009 The Irish Nurses Organization (INO) Annual Conference was held earlier this month in Killarney. It was the most militant INO Conference that I have ever attended. The Conference was held in the wake of the HSE’s announcement of a recruitment freeze on all staffing, including front line nursing staff, which threatens up to 6,000 nursing jobs over the next 20 months. It entails the termination of all temporary contracts and a moratorium on the filling of available posts due to retirements, maternity leave, etc. It is now being enacted. ... Nurses

Press Association, May 21, 2009 Nurses are to stage an all out strike at Sligo General Hospital as a dispute over staffing levels escalates. The Irish Nurses Organisation (INO) said 230 staff members at the regional facility will walk out after talks aimed at reverting the industrial action collapsed. Industrial relations officer Noel Treanor called for urgent intervention from the highest level to immediately seek a provision which would allow for the deferral of the action. The union claimed while the Health Service Executive (HSE) acknowledged significant nursing staff deficits in many acute areas, it refused to re-engage 19 nurses whose contracts were not renewed. Copyright © 2009 The Press Association. All rights reserved.