Strike action by hospital support staff must be avoided

MAYO Fianna Fáil TD Lisa Chambers has called on the Minister for Health and Minister for Finance to work together and liaise with SIPTU reps to try to avoid the upcoming 24-hour strike planned by health support staff this Thursday.

With up to 10,000 hospital support staff nationwide due to strike on Thursday, Deputy Chambers said she doesn't think the government fully understands the catastrophic outcome of this strike.

“The stark reality here is that hospital support staff are instrumental in the running of our hospitals - our hospitals cannot function properly without them,” she said.

“Health care assistants, porters, lab assistants and catering staff across 38 hospitals – including Mayo University Hospital – are frustrated because the government is failing to follow through on a commitment it made in advance of carrying out a job evaluation scheme.

During negotiations on the last Public Service Stability Agreement the government agreed to carry out job evaluations to ascertain where and how job roles had changed and if remuneration should be increased to match any changes.

“We’ve already seen nurses and midwives forced into strike action this year, and it’s a damning indictment of Fine Gael’s handling of the health service that these health support staff feel they have no other option other than to go on strike.”

She continued: “If this goes ahead it will cause significant disruption to the running of our hospitals with serious consequences for patients. These workers are the backbone of our hospital network and without them it could very well grind to a halt.