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2009

Alliance members to begin ballots for industrial action as campaign against cuts in frontline services enters new phase

Date Released: 22 Oct 2009

Unions representing 100,000 frontline public service workers are to begin balloting members immediately for industrial action in case the Government delivers on its threats to introduce further cuts in pay and services. The executives of the six unions in the 24/7 Frontline Service Alliance decided to escalate their campaign at a joint meeting in Liberty Hall, Dublin this morning.

They also adopted a logo and decided to launch a publicity campaign to highlight the essential role that frontline service workers play in Irish society. This follows reports back from the four regional meetings held by the Alliance over the past month, which were attended by over 5,000 nurses, garda, fire fighters, ambulance drivers, prison officers and other frontline workers. It also follows a report back on meetings with Fine Gael and the Labour Party yesterday, where party leaders Enda Kenny and Eamon Gilmore were accompanied by senior members of their parliamentary parties.

The Alliance will be supporting the Irish Congress of Trade Unions protests in Dublin and other centres throughout the Republic on November 6th. It will follow this with its own march to Leinster House on November 11th and a national canvass of TDs on the weekend of November 14th and 15th.

If the Government disregards the need to maintain frontline services at present levels and acknowledge that members of the Alliance have already contributed their share to restoring the public finances - with cuts in take home pay of up to 12 per cent - industrial action will be undertaken before the end of November. The nature and extent of that action will be decided as the campaign progresses over the coming weeks.

At the meetings with opposition party leaders Garda Representative Association Vice President Damien McCarthy pointed out that senior members of the force were already voting with their feet. Only 190 members had left in 2008 but the figure would be at least 700 this year. With the closure of Templemore no more young gardai would be entering the force.

The General Secretary of the Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors, Joe Dirwan said members were very concerned at the departure of the most experienced members of the force at a time of recession. A third of adult males under 25 were unemployed and crime rates were rising rapidly, while 60 per cent of the force had less than ten years service and 40 per cent had less than five years service.

The Deputy General Secretary of the Irish Nurses Organisation David Hughes had pointed out that 1,000 nurses would be needed to assist in the swine ‘flu vaccine programme and the HSE had indicated that these would be redeployed from other services. This would result in further cutbacks and bed closures in our hospitals.

SIPTU National Nursing Official Louise O’Reilly said that two thirds of her union’s members were low to middle income PAYE workers in the private sector who relied on the frontline services of public sector members such as nurses and firefighters. Unlike the better off in our society they could not jump the queues.

Prison Officers Association General Secretary John Clinton said that his organisation had negotiated a huge rationalisation programme with the Department of Justice in 2005 which had resulted in massive savings. His members starting salary was now only €23,000 a year. He contrasted the cuts aimed at frontline staff in the prisons with the total failure of the McCarthy Report to identify any savings in Prison administration, even though numbers had increased from 20 to 140 through the reorganisation programme.

The Research and Development Advisor of the Psychiatric Nurses Association, Aisling Culhane, said that Community Service programmes were already being cut back or cancelled for lack of funding.

The Labour Party leader Eamon Gilmore told the delegation from the Alliance that the Labour Party had consistently defended the public service and that it was wrong for frontline service workers to be targeted for cuts. But he added that the propaganda war was being won by powerful vested interests committed to ensuring the wealthy in our society and those who created the crisis did not foot the bill.

Mr Gilmore agreed that any changes in pay and conditions had to be by negotiation and agreement. He understood why so many people were leaving the frontline services in the present environment and said he would like to maintain a dialogue with the unions and staff associations in the Alliance. Mr Gilmore was accompanied by a number of Labour TDs including Joan Burton, Roisin Shortall, Kathleen Lynch, Jack Wall, Emmet Stagg and Jan O’Sullivan.

The Fine Gael leader, Enda Kenny, said that unfortunately the frontline services had always been seen as an easy target for cuts. He accepted that, given the anti-social hours and difficult work they carried out, frontline workers regarded allowances, shift premia and overtime payments as part of their core pay. Whatever changes were introduced in the Budget had to be fair.

The deputy leader of Fine Gael, Richard Bruton, said that nurses and gardai did not cause the economic crisis and their work was valued by the party. The party’s spokesperson on Enterprise, Trade and Employment said that he accepted allowances and overtime were part of core pay for frontline workers and unions had sound ideas on how public services could be reformed.





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