Members of Fórsa and Siptu this week took their campaign for pay justice in Section 39 agencies to the Cork constituency offices of the Taoiseach, DPER minister Michael McGrath and Foreign Affairs minister Simon Coveney.
The protests are to be followed by a series of strikes from mid-December, beginning on 15th December with a one-day stoppage at CoAction, a Cork organisation supporting people with disabilities.
Fórsa official Catherine Keogh explained, “The decision to engage in further industrial action is an inevitable consequence of the failure by health employers to make progress pay restoration in State-funded voluntary organisations that provide health and social services.”
In 2019 an agreement covering 50 larger Section 39 employments was approved by unions, and was followed by talks to achieve a similar agreement for the remaining 250 smaller employments in the sector.
Catherine added, “Section 39 workers are essential community health workers, and they are on the frontline of the Covid-19 crisis. Every stage of pay restoration in this sector has been hard fought. It has been a test of endurance for people who deliver vital health services in the community.
“The failure to complete the pay restoration process is putting the sustainability of these services at risk. The current Government needs to act on this. It’s a matter of unfinished business left behind by the last administration, and it deserves a swift and satisfactory conclusion after an exceptionally challenging year for these workers,” she said.
Failure to reach agreement led to a one-day strike by Fórsa members in a number of agencies last February.
Section 39 organisations were instructed by the HSE to cut staff pay in line with reductions in pay for public servants during the economic crisis.
However, staff in these agencies are not covered by subsequent public service pay agreements that restored pay.
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