(May 2017) The Sanitas health union says it will continue to campaign and mobilise in order to ensure that new legislation creates pay equity for all workers in the health and social services sectors. In its latest form the legislation fails to take account of a series of amendments submitted by the union. Sanitas says the process of consultation appears to have been for show only. The union will consider what further action to take should the legislation fail to incorporate the key changes on pay.
Health union continues campaign for pay equity
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Health union campaigns for pay equity
(September 2016) Over 200 people joined a picket of the Ministry of Labour on 20 September as part of a campaign by the Sanitas health union to ensure that all categories of workers in the sector are covered by the main pay statutes. Some workers including nursery staff and those working in social assistance are currently excluded from the pay provisions covering the sector. The union is organising further pickets of ministries and the parliament and plans a two-hour strike on 19 October and a full day of action on 31 October.
Unions push for pay equity for new entrants
Public service unions, including Fórsa and SIPTU, have met with the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform for discussions on dealing more rapidly with the problem of pay equity for new entrants to the public service. In the pay changes implemented as part of austerity measures in 2011, two additional points were added to the first two pay grades for new starters. This means that they need two more years to reach the top of their pay grades compared to higher grades. The unions argue that with economic growth and higher tax revenues, it should be possible to tackle this issue in advance