With a little over a week remaining for members to vote, we caught up with national secretary Linda Kelly, who has been travelling all over the country to talk to members.  While the cold snap is finally here, according to Linda things are heating up in health across the land. 

“In August, we asked members how unfilled posts in the HSE were impacting them, and they shared frustration about being unable to deliver services, the growing waiting lists, and the toll this is taking on both staff and the people they serve,” explained Linda. “Attending protests around the country we can really feel how angry members are. Expressing that at the protests is great, but expressing it in the ballot box is even better."
 
Ashley Connolly, head of the health division, has also been traversing the country, rallying support and raising awareness about the ongoing crisis. With the ballot still ongoing, she urged active members on the ground not to get complacent.  
 
“The ballot closes on Tuesday 26th November, and we want as high a turnout as possible so that it will be a demonstration of our unity and resolve in the face of HSE intransigence.  Get out there and talk to people, in the carpark, in the lift, in the canteen – let’s bring this one home. We’re in this together and we’ll win this together,” enthused Ashley Connolly.
 
“Our members have made it clear that this situation can’t continue, yet the HSE refuses to engage with us. Consequently, a ballot on industrial action opened on Monday, October 14th. To raise awareness, we’ve been organising protests outside hospitals nationwide in collaboration with the INMO and SIPTU,” Connolly told us. 

In an ongoing video series documenting the healthcare protests across the country we captured the energy of a recent lunchtime rally in Tralee where past and present staff members at University Hospital Kerry took part in a lunch-time protest on Wednesday 23rd October over the impact of staff shortages in the HSE. 

In this video, Karen Condon, a former medical secretary and workplace representative with Fórsa shares deeply personal insights on the challenges facing healthcare workers amid a prolonged recruitment embargo that forced her to leave a beloved position due to career stagnation.  
 
“I had to move on.  I loved working there, loved the buzz at the hospital and had fantastic colleagues. So it was with a heavy heart that I left.” Karen said. 
 
Following Karen’s departure, no replacement was hired for the role, leading to clinic delays, unmet GP communication, unaddressed waiting lists, and morale issues among remaining staff. Many are worn out from overtime and need relief through new hires to prevent burnout. 
 
Seamus Smith, an organiser with Fórsa and with roots in the area explains the outpouring of public support for the healthcare workers. “It is an incredibly unjust, recruitment pause. This hospital is rooted in the community. Families have grown up here. They use the hospital. So of course, there is community support,” he says. 
 
Liz Fay, an organiser with the health and welfare division was kept busy on the day rallying the troops on the megaphone and distributing the placards and flags that added yet more colour to a crisp autumnal day. “I think the one thing that you need when you're out in a protest is camaraderie between the people who are holding the line together. But not only that, support from the public too. So, every car that passed by, everybody who drove by and hit the horn or gave a wave or gave a cheer, it certainly helped to bolster people,” she said. 
 
Liz argues that the dedication of healthcare professionals—drawn to the field by a commitment to helping others—is being exploited by ongoing staffing freezes. “When you enter into a career structure like this, you enter into it because you care for people, you care about people. And I think that's the one thing that has been exploited throughout all the embargo and this continued embargo by another name, the pay and numbers strategy and that is the exploitation of people who are working for the greater good,” she emphasised. 
 
Watch our latest video on these actions here and visit the ballot hub here. Remember to vote by Tuesday 26th November and remind your colleagues to vote.

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