Dillon calls for pay equality for Section 39 healthcare workers

DEPUTY Alan Dillon has demanded that immediate and resolute action is taken to prevent Section 39 workers going on strike this month.  

Various Section 39 healthcare organisations – who are only partly publicly funded – are planning industrial action seeking parity with HSE colleagues in similar jobs.

These include organisations such as Western Care and the Irish Wheelchair Service.

Speaking in Dáil Éireann, Deputy Dillon said that Section 39 workers give ‘an invaluable lifeline to those in need’ and had not seen a pay increase since 2008.

He said that a proposed 5 percent pay funding increase for these workers did not go far enough to addressing ‘an unacceptable disparity’ between their pay and Section 38 workers employed by state agencies.

“It is an injustice that cries out for rectification,” the Fine Gael TD said.

“These dedicated individuals are the backbone of our social care system, serving tirelessly in disability services, homeless services, rape crisis services, and a multitude of other community-based programs. They are the silent heroes who bestow dignity and support upon thousands of our fellow citizens.

“‘Basic allowances and essential leave provisions, which should be standard, are missing from their employment conditions. As a result, their morale is at an all-time low, and the sector is suffering from a severe recruitment and retention crisis.

“As they leave, we witness the erosion of vital services, services that we, as a society cannot do without.” 

With up to 5,000 health and community workers due to go on strike over the issue on October 18, Deputy Dillon said that the situation facing this sector was ‘dire’.

“They are not asking for special treatment; they are asking for fair and equal treatment,” he concluded.