Nurses thank public for strike support
AS the INMO announce an escalation in strike action it has thanked local businesses and the public for their kind support on the picket lines.
With extra strike days planned for February 19 th and 21st, on top of five days already announced, including today (Tuesday), the INMO has stressed the importance of the public’s support.
Those on pickets received hot drinks from local coffee shops, hot food from local takeaways and supplies from prison officers and fire fighters.
Locally those on the picket line at Sligo University Hospital received food and hot drinks from various outlets around Sligo, including soup from the Radisson Blu Hotel.
INMO President and Sligo-based nurse Martina Harkin-Kelly said:
“We have been heartened and humbled by the support for our nurses and midwives on strike. Going on strike, especially in sub-zero temperatures, is not an easy decision. Knowing that the public overwhelmingly have our backs means the world to us.”
“We have also had over 60,000 people in the past ten days sign the INMO’s petition standing with nurses and midwives.
“Public opinion is firmly on the side of Ireland’s nurses and midwives. It’s time for the government to take heed.”
The second week of strikes will see the number of services on strike increase from 82 to 240. The INMO will also be organising a national rally on Saturday, February 9 th.
The first nurses’ strike day last week was the first in twenty years and only the second time in the INMO’s 100-year history that it has gone on strike nationally.
INMO General Secretary Phil Ní Sheaghdha said, “Nurses and midwives proudly stood up in defence of our patients and professions last Wednesday, but the government has responded with threats and intransigence. She continued, “Everybody except the government recognise that there is a serious understaffing problem in our health services. The public support for the strike on Wednesday showed that the Irish people stand with nurses and midwives.
The General Secretary said ‘ the message is clear’ that nurses and midwives would not be ‘going away’. “Resolving this dispute requires direct engagement from the government, recognising the real recruitment and retention problems in Irish nursing and midwifery.” Ms Ní Sheaghdha said nurses and midwives ‘simply want to be able to do our jobs’ but added that the health service cannot hire enough nurses and midwives on the current uncompetitive wages.