The Health Service Executive is not taking the prospect of a healthcare worker dispute seriously, according to multiple unions representing staff.
The Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation, Fórsa, Connect, Unite, and the MLSA all expressed disappointment with what they described as a "cavalier attitude" by the HSE to a dispute that is due to begin in the form of a work-to-rule by over 80,000 workers in the public health service next Monday, March 31st.
The unions involved in the dispute released a joint statement via a spokesperson following a meating with the chief executive of the HSE Bernard Gloster.
"Despite asking trade unions to meet this morning in a bid to explore options for avoiding planned action, the Health Service Executive is demonstrating a lax approach to upcoming industrial action which is to begin next Monday," the statement said.
"Unions have given the employer over three weeks’ notice to plan around what will be mass disruption to the health service, yet no formal derogations have been sought by the employer or no real contingency planning has been done.
"The fact of the matter is this dispute will begin next Monday. The HSE have not taken this process seriously and have chosen to walk away before matters can be dealt with."
In response to the union's release, the HSE said that Mr Gloster has asked the HSE's National Employee Relations Service to request the Work Relations Commission to intervene in the threatened industrial action.
"Last Thursday Mr Gloster asked the General Secretaries of the health staff unions to meet him this morning. He approached that meeting in good faith, but unfortunately no progress was made. There will be further talks this afternoon between the HSE and the health unions in relation to the nature of the threatened dispute," a spokeswoman for the HSE said.
"According to Mr Gloster: 'Any industrial action would be very regrettable, particularly in the context of possible negative impacts on the public.' The HSE will now await the intervention of the WRC."
