Dáil debates community and voluntary sector pay
by Niall Shanahan
 
Ashley and Fórsa officials will meet with other unions this morning (Friday) to discuss the next steps in the Valuing Care, Valuing Community campaign.
Ashley and Fórsa officials will meet with other unions this morning (Friday) to discuss the next steps in the Valuing Care, Valuing Community campaign.

Fórsa, which represents thousands of workers in the community and voluntary sector, welcomed comments made by the health minister Stephen Donnelly on Wednesday (12th October), when he indicated his belief in the potential for a WRC process to address the substantial pay deficit issues in the sector.

 

He made the comments during a debate, on a Labour party motion, seeking a collective bargaining process to address pay inequality in funded agencies providing health and social care services. Fórsa members in the community and voluntary sector took part in strike action in September as part of the ICTU-led Valuing care, Valuing Community campaign.

 

Fórsa national secretary Ashley Connolly said: "The debate was timely and Fórsa welcomed the contributions from right across the political spectrum. Every TD who spoke in the Dáil on Wednesday clearly articulated the arguments unions have been making on this issue, and we welcome that political support.

 

"While we welcome what the minister has said, we do so with caution, as there was no solid commitment to resolve these problems. It will take more than words of acknowledgement in the Dáil. If it opens the door to a proper process of negotiation, we’ll work with our colleague unions and the Government to achieve a result.

 

"While Fórsa remains determined to pursue a negotiated process to achieve pay equalisation measures, our members retain an absolute determination to exercise industrial action, if it becomes necessary,” she said.

 

Responsibilities

Responding to the Dáil motion, the health minister said he recognised the substantial challenge of recruiting and retaining experienced staff in the sector.

 

He said that while the Government was not the employer in these agencies, he acknowledged the role and responsibilities of the Government as the main funder - or often sole funder - to agencies on the sector.

 

Ashley said the minister's comments could open the door to a negotiation process: “The debate illustrated the problems very clearly, including the loss of staff to the HSE, to other funded (Section 38) agencies, and even to the NHS in the UK.

 

“Talent, skill and experience is being poached from a vital, underfunded sector, and this week that problem was acknowledged in the Dáil. The minister, in his response, explicitly acknowledged the ongoing problems of recruitment and retention in the sector, so our arguments appear to have broken through at Government level.

 

“Additionally, the Minister of State, Anne Rabbitte, said she wanted to achieve ‘fairness, equality, respect and value’ for the sector. On that we are very much in agreement. The debate also helped to drive home the point that the employers in the sector share the unions' concern on these issues.

 

"There is now work to do to move this issue on, ideally into a meaningful negotiation process that will deliver for our members in this vital sector, and which stems the flow of experienced staff out of agencies like Enable Ireland, Ability West, Western Care and St Joseph's Foundation. Agencies where our members recently took industrial action to highlight these problems,” she said.

 

Ashley and Fórsa officials will meet with other unions this morning (Friday) to discuss the next steps in the Valuing Care, Valuing Community campaign.

 

Watch: Fórsa members and officials attending the Dáil debate on Wednesday give their reaction, watch HERE or in the panel below.

 

Fórsa members attend Dáil debate on pay inequality

 

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