Northside home care strike
Deputy Mitchell says Northside Home Care Services staff have returned from strike action but may strike again after being excluded from a section 39 pay deal and threatened with replacement labour. The Taoiseach says he will speak to the Minister and HSE to try to resolve the dispute.
Please, Deputy Aird. You will not be picked again if you cannot conform to the structure of the debate. I call Deputy Denise Mitchell.
Comment on this
The staff at Northside Home Care Services are back in work today after being on strike last week and they have not ruled out further action. These workers provide supports to some of the most vulnerable in our community. Some of the staff I met on the picket line in Coolock have been doing this job for over 25 years and they were not included in the pay deal for section 39 workers because they were reclassified. Instead of management and the HSE engaging with the union, the HSE threatened their jobs. It warned that it would organise replacement labour from private companies. Now we have the prospect of more industrial action throughout this sector. My question is: when are the workers who do the same work on behalf of the HSE going to receive the same pay for that work? Will the HSE engage with their unions as a matter of urgency?
Comment on this
I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. At one level it is complex but, at another level, it is straightforward, if that makes sense. There are issues there. We will talk to the Minister and the HSE to see if this issue can be satisfactorily resolved, averting any necessity for further industrial action. We appreciate the work that is being done there.