Strike, Ireland, Europe

The ETUCLEX newsletter, produced by the ETUC’s legal team, provides a regular update on key legal developments across Europe and in the latest issue includes reports on the right to strike. In a long-running case involving the right to strike of civil servants in Germany, the European Court of Human Rights recently ruled that disciplinary action taken against teachers who took industrial action in 2009 and 2010 did not involve a breach of their human right to freedom of association. The Court found that the particular circumstances of civil servants in Germany in relation to their pay and

Members of three trade unions – Fórsa, SIPTU and INMO – are voting on whether to accept a deal that might resolve a long-standing dispute over pay affecting non-profit health providers. The unions have been seeking to restore pay parity between workers in these bodies and directly employed public sector health and social care staff. Strike action was due to begin on 17 October but a revised offer from the employers lead the unions to suspend the action and consult members. Instead of the two-stage 5% increase offered in July, the employers have put forward a 3% increase backdated to 1 April

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

Members of the Fórsa, INMO and SIPTU trade unions, employed in community and voluntary sector agencies funded by the state sector will begin indefinite strike action in a range of workplaces from Tuesday 17 October. The action, involving workers mainly in the health and social care sectors, is coordinated by the ICTU confederation and was overwhelmingly supported by members in ballots that took place following the breakdown of talks at the Workplace Relations Commission in July. The long-running dispute is over the failure by employers to address pay disparity between these workers and their

Retained firefighters organised by the SIPTU union have voted to end their dispute and accept an offer that includes measures on recruitment, pay and time off. The union hopes that these will help resolve serious staff shortages. Meanwhile, the Fórsa trade union is involved in disputes in health and local government. The union has agreed to suspend planned industrial action by health workers set to begin on 11 September. Fórsa will now continue negotiations in at the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) in relation to career progression for eight groups of health and social care professionals

Fórsa members across eight health and social care professions are set to take industrial action from 11 September in dispute over the career pathway review. Over 90% voted in favour of action, demonstrating the level of frustration with negotiations that began in 2018. The workers are employed in both the public and non-profit sectors and are demanding implementation of the promised career pathway review, meaningful discussions on clinical specialisms, advanced practice and management roles. The union argues that progress on these issues is an important factor in addressing the growing level

The SIPTU trade union is organising a series of meetings across all fire stations to assess the prospect of escalating strike action among retained firefighters and to ensure effective coordination of the action. This is in the lead up to a meeting of the union’s national committee on 9 August which will consider the results of the consultation and potential for further strikes. Over 2000 retained fire fighters are taking action to demand improved and more secure pay and conditions with more structured time off. The union has criticised both the employers and government for failing to engage

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

SIPTU members employed in the Retained Fire Service have suspended their industrial action following an intervention of the Labour Court that has decided that there is a basis for a full hearing on the dispute. This is due to take place on 26 June. The union foresees some tough discussions and says that members will not settle for anything other than an agreement which safeguards the functioning of this vital emergency service into the future. Meanwhile, Fórsa has served formal notice of industrial action in a dispute over the refusal of management in local government to establish a job

A nationwide strike on 7 June by SIPTU members in local authority water services was averted following the decision by the government to guarantee that any workers who do not want to transfer to the new public water company, Uisce Éireann, will have all their earnings protected. The key issue for the union was to secure the guarantee in relation to workers’ allowances and overtime payments they accrue currently as part of their work. Meanwhile, INMO and other health unions have called for the extension of the temporary special leave with pay scheme for workers with COVID to be extended. The

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

In three separate disputes, members of the Fórsa and SIPTU trade unions have voted in favour of industrial action. In the ambulance service, SIPTU members voted with a 95% majority to back industrial action following the refusal of management to implement a restructuring plan that had been negotiated with and was fully supported by the union. Meanwhile, SIPTU members in the water sector will take strike action on 7 June unless there is a guarantee that their local authority pay and conditions will be protected when they transfer to a new employer, Uisce Éireann, a new standalone public utility

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

The ETUC is calling on its member organisations to press their national governments to provide feedback to the Swedish Presidency on the proposed Single Market Emergency Instrument (SMEI) by 20 January. The ETUC argues that the SMEI must respect fundamental trade union rights and the autonomy of the social partners and that strike action must never be considered as a crisis or be restricted by emergency measures whether under the SMEI or otherwise. Affiliates are urged to get their national governments to push for stronger safeguards for social, workers’ and trade union rights to be included