Fórsa members employed at the state’s Child and Family agency, Tusla, commenced industrial action last week in the ongoing dispute over the employer’s withdrawal of access to an agreed job evaluation scheme for Tusla staff.

The industrial action involves Tusla’s clerical and administrative staff employed in grades three to six, who balloted overwhelmingly in favour of industrial action in September.

Notice of industrial action was served on the 4th of October. The action takes the form of a series of non-cooperation actions.

When Tusla was formed in 2013, HSE staff were transferred into the newly-formed agency, with terms and conditions from their HSE employment protected by the terms of a framework agreement, including access to a job evaluation scheme, a process for measuring the relative worth of posts in an organisation based on the work a post-holder is doing or is expected to do.

The dispute has arisen because Tusla has failed to honour the 2013 framework agreement specifically in relation to access to the job evaluation scheme.

Fórsa official Chris Cully said it’s regrettable that the union has had to take industrial action: “This could have been avoided if Tusla and the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth (DCEDIY) had honoured the undertakings given to staff in our framework agreement.

“However, both the employer and DCEDIY have had their hands effectively tied on this issue by the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, which has questioned the ongoing validity of the framework agreement,” she said.

On the day the industrial action began the union issued a letter to Minister Roderic O’Gorman urgently requesting a meeting and asking the Minister to honour the entirety of the of the Framework agreement. You can read the letter here.

The industrial action takes the form of a work-to-rule. Fórsa’s clerical and admin members in the affected Tusla grades are instructed not to carry out the work of other colleagues in their absence, not to undertake work in respect of any vacant post, or work associated with the Tusla reform programme. The union has also instructed members not directly involved in the dispute - but employed by Tusla - to ensure they don’t carry out the work of their colleagues taking action, nor to engage in activities deemed to undermine a legitimate industrial action.

Detailed derogations apply to certain areas of Tusla’s work, in particular those related to statutory obligations and the protection of vulnerable children. An FAQ on the dispute is available here.

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