Campaign of resistance planned for new year

The Health and Welfare Divisional Executive Committee met yesterday and considered the situation in the aftermath of the collapse of the talks between the Government and the public service unions. 

The HWDEC noted the following: 

1. The transformation approach presented by the unions would have avoided pay cuts and could have saved billions.  It is clear that, by indicating a willingness to explore alternatives and then by walking away, the Government acted in bad faith and placed the agenda of business before the interests of ordinary citizens.
2. The Government has attempted to justify its actions using these arguments against the union approach. 

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  • It was unworkable. (Despite the furore regarding unpaid leave, agreement was reached in each sector on arrangements that would have ensured no service disruption).
  • It didn’t produce the necessary savings (the costing of the various measures has not been disputed by the Government side and the total exceeds the €1.3b sought).
  • The savings weren’t permanent (but they would have been fully applied in 2010 and by approaching reform in an agreed but radical way it held out the real prospect of further savings in future years).

    Clearly the Government must also believe that it will get the reforms anyway! 

3. The burden of the fiscal adjustment contained in Budget 2010 falls almost exclusively on two groups – public servants and social welfare recipients.  To concentrate the effect on distinct groupings while failing to take any measures to tax wealth or to address high earners in the private sector is fundamentally unjust.  Tuesday’s report of the Mercer survey indicating that only 9% of private sector workers had suffered a cut in actual rates of pay has added to the sense of unfairness.  

Having started a campaign of vilification against public servants politicians must now think that this injustice will be tolerated by them. 

The Health & Welfare Divisional Executive decided: 

1. To mobilise members in a campaign of action of ensure that the pay rates effective on 31 December 2009 are restored.
2. To participate fully, in conjunction with IMPACT’s CEC and through the Public Services Committee of ICTU, in the coordination of similar actions of other public services unions to maximum effect. 
3.  To continue to work with the other health sector Congress unions to develop a ‘solidarity pact’ entailing commitments to each other of supportive action in the event of a particular union being targeted by an employer. 
4. To treat the HSE as an extension of Government given the fact that its Board is exclusively comprised of Ministerial appointees (and in the light of the HR National Directors message to staff after the talks collapse). 
5. To commence a programme of industrial action that will initially involve extensive non-cooperation, withdrawal from various processes and other disruptive activity (the details of which are being worked out). 
6. To meet again on 7 January 2010 to finalise the details of the instruction to members and to approve the serving of notice of industrial action that will begin on Monday 18 January 2010.
7. To convene a Special Divisional Council meeting that can be attended by two representatives (more if prior notification is given) of each Branch and each Vocational Group to take place on Tuesday 12 January 2010 from 11.00 am to 4.00 pm at a Dublin venue to be arranged.  The purpose of the meeting will be to prepare for the industrial action, the details of which will be known at that stage. 
8.  To consider further the scope of a ballot and the nature of the mandate sought in relation to the wider community and voluntary sector.  These members were not balloted.  It is considered that the existing ballot and mandate is still appropriate in relation to members in the HSE, public voluntary hospitals and the other Agencies that participated.

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