Nurses finally getting back pay

THERE’S good news for nurses and midwives working in Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital, Drogheda as they are finally getting the pay increases they campaigned for when they took to the picket lines in 2019 strike

Staff were owned hundred thousand Euro in back pay, based on pay rises won in the nurses and midwives’ strike early last year.

While most nurses and midwives in Ireland have received the increases, Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital had been slow to make the payments. The INMO went to the Workplace Relations Commission for resolution in July.

Hospital management have confirmed this week that up to 90% of staff will be paid before Christmas with the remainder to be paid before the New Year.

A nurse at OLOL, who did not wish to be named, said: ‘We are small numbers in a large system that does not listen. We were supposed to benefit from pay increases, not be out of pocket.

‘Staff have been feeling flat on the frontline, working so hard every day in a COVID environment knowing they are owed pay.’

INMO Industrial Relations Officer for the area, Maurice

Sheehan, said:

‘ This is simply a matter of paying what is owed. It seems the wait is almost over for the nurses and midwives at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital, but it should never have taken this long.

‘ The INMO was forced to bring this issue to the Workplace Relations Commission to get this sorted for our members.

‘A pay agreement is exactly that - an agreement. We strongly encourage the hospital to get on with paying what staff are owed urgently.’