Fórsa’s elected National Executive met earlier this week and decided overwhelmingly to recommend acceptance of the proposed new public service agreement, Building Momentum. The proposals will be put to a ballot of the union’s members early in the New Year.

If accepted, the proposed new public service agreement won’t immediately resolve the longstanding injustice of the so-called ‘Haddington Road hours.’ But it’s a major breakthrough nonetheless.

Fórsa has welcomed the proposed prioritisation of healthcare staff and other key workers in the ‘provisional vaccine allocation groups’ published by the health department last week.

The union-negotiated cap on professional registration fees for health and social care professionals (HSCPs) will stay in place if the new public service agreement is accepted in ballots of union members.

Unions have made a breakthrough on pay restoration for members in 250 State-funded voluntary health and social service providers – known as Section 39 agencies - following a conciliation conference in the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) last week. 

The cabinet has finally approved an increase in parent’s leave from two to five weeks for each parent, but says this can’t happen until April 2021 because IT systems need to be updated to make it possible.

Fórsa has told members of the Oireachtas that the Sláintecare programme must create an integrated healthcare system that places the patient at its centre, discard traditional turf warfare over control of the system, and deliver a community-led intervention model.

The Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU) has called on the Government to give all workers a legal right to request flexible working arrangements, including remote work. 

The union’s National Executive has approved the appointment of Katie Morgan as national secretary and Ashley Connolly as national secretary in due course.

Fórsa’s Dublin Hospitals’ branch hosted two information sessions for members last Thursday as part of an initiative by the branch to fill the gap in workplace safety training, which a survey of members revealed is not being met in some hospitals.