IMPACT members working at the Central Remedial Clinic (CRC) have served notice of industrial action which is due to commence from 9am next Wednesday (21st September).

In a letter to the CRC’s human resources manager, IMPACT official Ian McDonnell said the industrial action is due to the CRC’s unilateral decision to terminate the staff contributory pension scheme without any consultation or negotiation with staff.

The 44 active members of the scheme are in the process of being entered into the public service pension scheme, but the union has said this move only represents a partial resolution to the closure of the scheme, and that a number of outstanding issues remain. There are also approximately 50 deferred members affected by the scheme’s closure.

The industrial action will mean that IMPACT members will cease their engagement with committees and working groups, suspend engagement with management on strategic planning and change management, and will only respond to email necessary to maintain client services.

In earlier correspondence (September 3rd), Ian outlined the outstanding issues, which were established by an actuarial report into the closure of the scheme. These include;

• Delivery of full accrued benefits for active and deferred members of the contributory scheme
• Addressing the benefits gap between the public service and contributory scheme
• Addressing those members of the contributory scheme that may not require access to the public service pension.

Ian said management’s handling of the issue had been extremely poor. “The staff affected here had been paying into the contributory scheme for a minimum of 15 years. They are loyal, hardworking staff and are committed to ensuring that their clients continue to receive the services they provide despite management’s appalling handling of this situation.

“This industrial action is targeted very directly at CRC management, who have betrayed the trust of their own staff,” he said.