Support the Nurses :

When any group of workers go on strike, their value to society becomes immediately apparent. With their labour withdrawn, the forgotten postal worker, teacher, or train driver leaps into public conciousness as letters are left undelivered, schools are emptied, and trains are idled on railway sidings. Most industrial actions not only involve the suffering of the workers on strike, but the people who need their services most. It is those without any financial cushion who are worse affected, vulnerable pensioners waiting on payments, children solely reliant on public schooling, and so on.

So it isn’t surprising that employers use the inconvenience of those who need these services as a reason why the strikers should back down and return to work. Hypocrisy is rife as the social welfare recipeint who has seen their share of national income drop from 11% to 8.8% in the celtic tiger years is suddenly a primary concern of the government¹, and workers who demand a fair share of profits are deemed greedy by the fatcats who’ve never had it so good. Whatever the sector, whoever the employer, the bosses tactic is the same: pitch worker against worker, divide and rule.

As our government continues to disregard the sick, the Irish Nurses Orginisation (INO) has been one of its best critics. Showing concern for the interests of patients as much as it’s own members, the INO posts a weekly set of statistics on its website detailing the number of sick people attended to on hospital trollies ². It has criticised the government for pushing health privatisation while people who are poor and excluded get sick more often and die younger than people who are better off ³. Some months ago, INO members passed a motion of no-confidence in the neo-liberal Minister for Health and Children, Mary Harney⁴.

In short, the INO is one of the few unions courageous enough to step outside the “partnership” consensus and stand up to the government. Last week, INO members embarked on a work to rule. With 100% compliance, the Union looks set to embark on work stoppages later this week⁵.

Along with the Psychiatric Nurses Association (PNA), the INO have two key demands:
1) A 10% pay increase to bring their pay back in line with other health workers.
2) The introduction of a 35-hour working week, again bringing their working hours in line with other health workers.

The claim for a 35-hour week dates back to a 1980 Labour court recommendation ⁶. Since then, various governments have ignored the plight of the Nurses as much as they have ignored patients. The 35-hour week hasn’t been implemented⁷, and in the late 1980s a Labour Minister closed 8 public hospitals with 704 beds as our public health services continued to deteoriate.

The INO/PNA work to rule commenced without the presence of SIPTU workers after 60 days notice, and approximately 6 years of negotiation. INO members have been careful to reduce the impact of their industrial action on seriously ill patients ⁸.

In any case, the responsibility for this industrial action rests solely with the Government. They will gladly see patients from poorer backgrounds suffer in an effort to prepare the way for them to smash the INO/PNA. Over the last week, Harney and her ideological bedfellows have been on the offensive. Media outlets which ignore the 33% of men and 45% of women that identify financial problems as the greatest factor preventing them improving their health are suddenly showing concern for patients in the public system⁹.

Emotive arguments focusing on standards of patient care are seldom used when evaluating the profiteering of a section of Consultant Doctors. Nor are they used when vital expertise, resources, and facilities are directed into the growing cosmetic surgery market instead of being focused on those who don’t have access to basic health services. Ethical concerns about patient care are only raised when health workers are told by their bosses to get back to working long hours for low pay. They are told that a country of some 2,700 individuals worth between €5m and €30m cannot afford to pay them a decent wage ¹⁰, and to demand one is greedy.

But demand they must. The Nurses know from experience that politely asking Mary Harney to meet their modest claims is about as useful as treating patients with bureaucrats. Legitimate anger about the conditions that have created this industrial action should be directed against the Government, not at conscientious health workers. It is unfortunate that SIPTU has failed to come out in support of the action. A united stand by all nurses would almost guarantee a victory over Harney. In these days of social partnership, the stand taken by the INO/PNA workers deserves support and solidarity from all.

1: http://www.cso.ie/statistics/expend_social_welfare.htm
2: http://www.ino.ie/DesktopDefault.aspx?TabID=6030
3: Balanda, K. & Wilde, J. 2001, Inequalities in Mortality 1989 - 1998: A Report on All-Ireland Mortality Data, The Institute of Public Health in Ireland, Dublin.
Barry, J., Sinclair, H., Kelly, A., O'Loughlin, R., Handy, D., & O'Dowd, T. 2001,Inequalities in Health in Ireland - Hard Facts, Department of Community Health & General Practice, Dublin. Nolan, B. & Callan, T. eds. 1994 Poverty and Policy in Ireland. Economic and Social Research Institute,Dublin.
4: http://www.rte.ie/news/2006/0505/nurses.html
5: http://www.rte.ie/news/2007/0406/nurses.html
6: http://www.ino.ie/DesktopModules/Articles/ArticlesView.aspx?TabID=6174&ItemID=5510&mid=12258
7: http://www.ino.ie/DesktopModules/Articles/ArticlesView.aspx?TabID=497&ItemID=3721&mid=7697
8: http://www.ino.ie/DesktopModules/Articles/ArticlesView.aspx?TabID=6270&ItemID=6364&mid=18623
9: Kelleher, C., Friel, S., NicGabhain, S., Tay J. B. 2003b, Socio-demographic predictors of self rated health in the Republic of Ireland: findings from the National Survey of Lifestyle, Attitudes and Nutrition, SLAN. Soc Sci Med. 2003 Aug; 57 (3): 477-86.
10: http://applications.boi.com/updates/Article?PR_ID=1388