Nurses stand their ground

SOLIDARITY MARCH A small section of the nurses’ group that staged a one-hour strike at Mayo General Hospital, Castlebar on Friday morning last.  Pic: Michael Donnelly

Nurses stand their ground

Anton McNulty

MAYO’S General Election candidates have been warned that if they want to be elected they will have to satisfy nurses that they will give a firm commitment to resolve their dispute, adding that ‘nurses’ votes will not be bought easily’.
Up to 300 nurses representing the Irish Nurses’ Organisation (INO) and the Psychiatric Nurses’ Association (PNA) took part in a one-hour work stoppage in the sunshine outside Mayo General Hospital in Castlebar last Friday. Nurses were in good spirits as they listened to representatives from both unions telling them that they were united in their demands and they would not be intimidated by scare-mongering by the HSE and the Minister for Health.
The stoppage in Castlebar was one of a number of stoppages which took place around the country, as the nurses bid to advance their claim for a 10.6 per cent pay rise and a 35-hour  working week. The industrial action, in the form of the work-to-rule, began almost five weeks ago and talks between the unions and the health service management to try to resolve the dispute collapsed last week.
Among the attendance were six election candidates, including sitting TDs Michael Ring, Dr Jerry Cowley and Beverley Flynn as well as Cllr Gerry Murray and John O’Mahony, with Cllr Frank Chambers the only Government party representative.
Ms Mary Kinealy, the National Vice Chairperson of the PNA, told the assembled crowd that it was the nurses and not the unions who were driving the campaign and they would not be put down any longer. She said that their protests were not compromising the care of the patients and claimed there was a smear campaign being waged against the nurses.
“Nurses have been put down for too long and we will not be put down for any longer. The HSEA (Health Service Employers’ Agency) have gone on a smear campaign against the nurses saying they are not doing their work. Patient care is not compromised and I want to assure the public that nurses do not compromise patient care. It is the HSE who have run this health system into the ground and we are trying to fix it.
“I want to tell the politicians that you will be knocking on our doors and your interview is now on. Nurses’ votes will not be bought easily and their families’ votes will not be given away easily. If we do not see hard, serious commitment to fix this dreadful situation then you will not be elected. Nurses are in this for the long haul and nurses will fight and nurses will be right,” she said.
Mr Noel Traynor, the North West Industrial Relations Officer with the INO, said they were committed to achieving their demands and they were not going to lie down. He claimed that there was a level of misinformation being put into the public domain by what he described as the outgoing ‘lame-duck’ Minister for Health, Mary Harney and they had put forward a ‘significant’ reform programme which the HSE could not understand.
Meanwhile, the Manager of Mayo General Hospital, Mr Tony Canavan said that the stoppage passed off ‘reasonably well’ but if the dispute escalates they will have to look at deferring more elective procedures.
“It was well managed but it had an impact on our theatre where we had to defer three cases in total. So far it has worked out reasonably well but we will have to review the situation as the campaign escalates. We will have to look at more extensive cancellations and deferrals. It is possible to deal with one-hour stoppages but when it comes to two- or three-hour stoppages it will become a real issue,” he said.