Unions organise joint protest over pay in community services

The SIPTU, Fórsa and INMO trade unions organised a joint national demonstration in Dublin on 3 May to highlight the need for better pay and proper respect for workers in the non-profit community and health services (Section 39) sector. More than 400 protesters attended the rally. The sector provides many services equivalent to those provided directly by the public sector and the unions want to see the implementation of a fair funding model that will address the pay and conditions of all workers in the sector and disparities with the public sector. The unions are launching a national campaign

Fórsa, INMO and SIPTU – the three unions representing staff working in community and voluntary sector agencies funded by the Health Services Executive (HSE) have served fresh pay claims on a number of employers in the sector in the context of an ongoing dispute about pay. Workers in these agencies are on lesser terms and conditions than their counterparts working directly for the HSE. The government has recognised that it is the main and often sole funder of these organisations, and that its funding affects the ability of agencies to improve pay and conditions. Until 2008, workers in these

Federations in the CCOO confederation will organise a protest on 7 March over the refusal of employer associations in the nursing homes and home care sector to update the salary tables for 2022. The collective agreement for the sector links pay to inflation and the increase for 2022 should be 6.5% based on the inflation index to December 2021. The federations are highly critical of the employers’ refusal to properly apply the salary revision clause that has not raised any problems in recent years and of their block on negotiations. They underline the urgent need for a pay rise in the sector