The review looked at pay in a group of 50 agencies. Addressing delegates at the union’s national conference last week, head of division Éamonn Donnelly told delegates that the campaign to restore pay in Section 39 agencies was essential.
“These are workers who were treated as public servants for the purpose of a pay cut, but are denied the pay restoration measures that we’ve secured for public servants. We're taking a coordinated approach with other unions representing workers in this sector in order to secure pay restoration,” he said.
Éamonn was addressing conference motions, brought by the Dublin Care Services and Tipperary North Health and Community branches, calling on the union to secure pay restoration in Section 39 agencies. He said the union group will meet this week to discuss the findings of the review and prepare its response.
Éamonn told delegates “We’re looking, in the first instance, at those agencies who have the capacity, and adequate funding streams, to deliver pay restoration. That’s where it starts, and will allow us then to establish a model that can be rolled out across the other agencies.”
Éamonn said that the union’s national executive has given its sanction to undertake industrial action in the sector if it becomes necessary. “It may require an industrial action in order to achieve what we’re looking for. In that instance, we would target the more robustly funded agencies,” he said.
