INMO Members to Hold Hospital Protests Over Public Sector Pay Deal Delays

Healthcare professionals belonging to the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) plan to stage midday demonstrations at medical facilities nationwide regarding the slow progress in finalizing a fresh public sector wage agreement. The industrial action arrives ahead of planned strikes by public sector workers scheduled for 14 October and 21 October.

Cost-of-Living Pressures and Staffing Impacts

“INMO members will be protesting over cost-of-living measures and the impact it is having on staffing in work locations,” the union said in a statement.

Public sector employees have participated in a work-to-rule protest since the previous week. Labour organizations have criticized the administration for not providing substantive remuneration pledges after the prior public sector pact concluded at the close of June.

Government Allocates 1.2 Billion Euro for Public Sector Pay

The administration revealed on Tuesday that a budgetary provision of €1.2 billion has been set aside for a public sector remuneration arrangement. During his address on the financial plan, Public Expenditure Minister Jack Chambers stated that this substantial allocation proved the administration’s earnest commitment to securing a fresh pact.

“I would now call on ICTU and other associations to match this intent by re-engaging as a matter of urgency and standing down the ongoing industrial action,” Mr Chambers said.

Unions stated however that the €1.2 billion allocation is not enough to resolve the current pay dispute. “The Government has demonstrated fiscal capacity elsewhere in the Budget but has apparently not allocated enough to resolve a pay dispute that is now escalating,” according to a statement from the Public Services Committee of Irish Congress of Trade Unions.