Nurses postpone industrial action
NURSES have deferred their industrial action planned for Tuesday to allow for a ballot on new proposals.
Talks between health service management and nurses’ representatives went on until 4am on Saturday morning in a bid to avoid the nationwide work to rule.
The Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation announced last night that it will ballot its members on revised Government proposals on issues relating to the recruitment and retention of nurses.
The INMO is expected to recommend acceptance of the proposals, which will pave the way for nurses to take part in talks on the successor to the Lansdowne Road Agreement.
The news will be welcomed by the Government as it means all public sector unions bar one – the Association of Secondary Teachers of Ireland – are on board with entering talks on the successor to the Lansdowne Road Agreement. Minister for Health
INMO to ballot members on Goverment proposals
Simon Harris said last night: ‘I welcome the deferral and respect the process the INMO is now undertaking to ballot its members and reiterate my commitment to working to invest in and further improve the Irish health service.’
In a statement last night, the executive council of the INMO said it had decided, ‘following detailed consideration of expanded proposals on the staffing/recruitment/retention crisis, to ballot members on those proposals and defer planned industrial action’.
The Council has decided to recommend members accept the proposals to secure immediate steps to address the staffing crisis: ‘If the members accept... the INMO will be approaching the planned discussions on a successor to the LRA requiring that any new agreement is constructed to ensure the labour market challenges facing nursing/ midwifery can and will be addressed in a manner which will resolve the recruitment/retention issue,’ it said.