Health and Safety, Transparency & Corruption, Staffing levels, Ireland, Croatia, Armenia

The INMO nurses’ and midwives’ union has called on the Health Service Executive (HSE) to end the moratorium on recruiting frontline patient-facing staff. The HSE has revealed that emergency department attendances are up 13% compared to the same period in 2023 and 452 patients were admitted to hospital without a bed on a single day earlier this month. INMO warns that its members are bearing the brunt of public disappointment and in some cases aggression for the state of the health service while working in extremely challenging environments. The union says that staff who are leaving because of

The leadership of the INMO nurses’ and midwives’ union held an emergency meeting on 10 November to discuss possible industrial action in response to the announcement by the Health Services Executive that it was extending its current recruitment freeze to almost all nursing and midwifery grades until the end of the year. The union said that the announcement came without documentation or consultation with the union and a request for a meeting was declined. INMO calculates that there are currently around 2,800 nursing and midwifery vacancies in the health service, which urgently need to be filled

Members of the Fórsa and SIPTU unions are taking or planning industrial action over staffing. The Fórsa action involves specific managerial and administrative staff in both directly employed and publicly funded healthcare providers and is in protest at a freeze on recruitment. The dispute had almost been resolved during September but the Health Services Executive pulled the plug on a draft agreement at the last minute. Meanwhile, radiographers at two major hospitals have voted overwhelmingly for industrial action up to and including strike action in a dispute over safe staffing levels. The

The strike by retained firefighters over pay and staffing was due to go ahead on 26 July after being suspended by the SIPTU union to allow for a Labour Court hearing. At the hearing the employers failed to produce an acceptable offer and the date for action was confirmed by the union. Meanwhile, the Fórsa trade union is balloting members in its health and welfare division over two disputes – one in relation to career development and the other in relation to the excessive use of agency staff and external consultants. Both unions, along with the INMO trade union are also continuing to campaign

The SIPTU trade union has announced dates for industrial action by water workers and retained (part-time) firefighters in June. Water workers currently employed by local authorities face restructuring as a new national water company is established. The dispute is over the failure of local authorities to guarantee the protection of all pay and conditions if the workers choose to remain with their local authority. The firefighters’ action is over pay and the serious staff shortages in the sector which are putting extra pressure on existing staff who often forego holidays in order to ensure cover

The HSSMS-MT nurses’ union with the support of the SSZSSH independent health workers’ union has been continuing its series of protests around the country, with a major demonstration planned for 12 May – International Nurses’ Day. The unions are angry that their members have been offered pay rises of only 3%-5% when doctors have been awarded 10% or more. The HSSMS-MT argues that staffing shortages are becoming acute with many workers leaving the sector because of low pay noting that hospital cooks and cleaners, for example, are on salaries below HRK 4000 (€500) a month.

The INMO nurses’ union is to ballot intensive care unit nurses at University Hospital Limerick in pursuance of safe staffing, having exhausted local negotiations to resolve the problem. The union argues that the lack of consistent safe staffing is having a detrimental impact on the physical and mental wellbeing of workers and patients. This follows INMO’s executive council decision in February to sanction a campaign of industrial action in response to members reporting that unsafe staffing is the norm in many hospitals. The union has also called on the Department of Health and the Health

The Fórsa trade union is planning to ballot its members in non-profit health and social care over a proposal for indefinite strike action. Along with other unions, SIPTU and INMO, Fórsa has been involved in a long-running campaign to secure pay increases for workers in the sector where pay has fallen behind public sector pay. Despite several years of targeted industrial action the government has failed to address the problem and the unions argue that this is unfair as many workers in the sector are doing the same work and delivering the same services as in the public sector. They also warn

With inflation hitting a 21-year high of 5.6%, Kevin Callinan, head of the Fórsa public service union, has called for the current “Building momentum” public sector agreement to be reviewed. Under the agreement public service pay will increase by just 1.2% this year. The agreement has an opening clause and Callinan argues that both the high level of inflation and more positive situation for the public finances justify the review. Meanwhile, members of the Medical Laboratory Scientists’ Association (part of the SIPTU trade union) will take strike action on 30 March unless the Department of

Public service unions Fórsa and SIPTU have called for urgent action to better protect healthcare and childcare staff against the COVID-19 virus. Fórsa says that figures show over 9000 health workers were infected at the beginning of last month and that many are being pushed back to work too quickly by local management in response to increased demand and shortages of staff. Meanwhile, SIPTU has been making a case for a change in a approach in the childcare sector where there is no requirement to wear masks or implement social distancing. The union wants a review of procedures, for staff to be

The SIPTU health union has reiterated its demand that the government publishes full details of where over 7,600 workers have tested positive for Covid-19. The union says that the data is needed to identify any Covid-19 hotspots and to understand if health workers were exposed due to the lack of personal protective equipment (PPE) or poor enforcement of protocols. It will also allow the union to find out how these workers were treated by their employer. SIPTU is also concerned about health workers taken on by employment agencies who are not covered by Covid-19 paid leave or ‘death in service’