Tag Archives: strike

A CLARE barrister, who along with other colleagues at Ennis Courthouse, joined in a series of nationwide protests has said the “ball is in the government’s court” when it comes to finding a resolution to the dispute. Tuesday’s action was the first of three days of withdrawal of services planned for this month with the Ennis Courthouse protest one of 16 taking place nationwide following a recommendation from the Council of The Bar of Ireland last month. This is an escalation on the unprecedented action taken by criminal barristers all over the country on October 3 last, with the campaigners saying they are “seeking an independent, meaningful, time-limited and binding mechanism to determine the fees paid to criminal barristers by the Director of Public Prosecutions and under the Criminal Justice (Legal Aid) Scheme”. They are calling for a reversal of pay cuts introduced under the Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest Act (FEMPI) in 2009. According to the Council …

    NURSES in Clare and throughout the Mid-West have overwhelmingly supported a national ballot for industrial action. The result of the ballot coincides with the revelation there are up to 60 nursing vacancies in University Hospital Limerick (UHL), which continues to struggle with overcrowding as INMO figures recorded 56 patients on trolleys on Tuesday, December 18. According to INMO industrial relations officer, Mary Fogarty, this doesn’t include ward nursing posts that were not funded since reconfiguration removed 24-hour casualty cover from Ennis and Nenagh Hospitals in April 2009. Ms Fogarty said eight beds were closed in St Camillus Hospital, Limerick and about ten funded beds in St Joseph’s Geriatric Hospital, Ennis. The union official pointed out if there was an examination about what St Joseph’s really required, this figure would be much higher. Asked if industrial action in the new year would made chronic overcrowding even worse, she stressed nurses were left with no other option. She said the …

Bus Éireann passengers in County Clare have been making alternative travel plans today as an-all out strike is underway. Among those discommoded are people who normally use bus services to get to work and those who travel from rural areas to Ennis for shopping and business. One regular Bus Éireann passenger from West Clare told The Clare Champion he was unable to make it to work today, which had serious implications for him and his employer. Bus Éireann services across the country stopped at midnight after drivers refused to work under the threat of pay cuts. Management at the transport firm are warning they need to plug a multi-million euro hole in their finances, but their claim that there’s ‘no basis’ for talks led to unions escalating their action. Unions representing drivers say members will engage in all-out indefinite strike until their greviences are addressed. Unions are in dispute with the company over cuts to pay, the casualisation of work and the …

INDUSTRIAL action due to take place at Element Six this week, having been earlier adjourned, has now been postponed for a second time. SIPTU members have been at loggerheads with management for some time over a variety of issues, most particularly a failure by the company to implement a Labour Court recommendation. Representatives of the union told The Clare Champio that their members were under very high levels of stress, with many of them having to take medication to cope with the prevailing situation. A meeting between management and SIPTU took place last Friday, which was chaired by Brian McGinn of the Labour Relations Commission. It is understood that some progress was made at this meeting, which led to the decision to postpone the strike action again. A document is set to be put to the union shortly, with members due to ballot on it thereafter. However, it is understood that there are some concerns already emerging that attempts may …

SIPTU workers at Element Six have been suffering mental health issues, as a result of stress and pressure in the workplace, it has been claimed. This comes in advance of a planned 24-hour work stoppage on September 21. One shop steward told The Clare Champion that union members have spoken to him about having been prescribed medication to deal with workplace-related anxiety and depression. He said people have also been ringing him to say they are unable to go to work, such is their level of distress. “It’s very bad, to the point that people took a stand for industrial action; they felt they had no other option. The way that people are being treated down there, I think people have had enough. Numerous people have been out, due to stress; some of them have just conceded and taken early retirement. I think most of them would have rather worked until closer to 65, but they are just conceding and …

Members of the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) in St Camillus Hospital, Limerick commenced a work to rule this morning. The industrial action comes some seven months on from notification by nurses to senior HSE managers that the clinical care of patients at the hospital is compromised due to ongoing unfilled nursing positions. Currently there are approximately 15 vacant nursing posts. The INMO, at the request of its members, has engaged with the HSE since last November in efforts to fast-track recruitment of nurses. So far this has not yielded sufficient numbers of qualified nurses and leaves the residents at ongoing risk. Calls by members for the HSE to curtail admissions to the 100 bed facility until such time as the nursing levels improve have also been rejected. Therefore, it is with regret that INMO members are left with no other option but to commence industrial action. The action will not harm any patient but will assist the available …

Fianna Fáil Spokesperson on Transport, Timmy Dooley has cautioned the Government that they must work with bus unions to avert planned strikes by Dublin Bus and Bus Éireann workers. Members of SIPTU and the National Bus and Rail Union are planning to hold two 48-hour stoppages on May 1 and 2 and May 15 and 16 in a row over the privatisation of bus routes. Deputy Dooley commented, “The Government, and Minister Paschal Donohoe in particular, needs to take whatever action is necessary to prevent these strikes from going ahead. The timing is particularly serious as it will affect tens of thousands of commuters, passengers and tourists on a busy bank holiday weekend. The fact that major rail engineering works are planned for that same weekend, resulting in the cancellation of a number of DART services and the closure of certain train stations adds to the imposition on travellers. “Commuters are understandably annoyed at the prospect of another strike. A previous strike in August …

A LARGE number of Dunnes Stores workers in Ennis were on the picket line this Thursday morning, as part of the national bid to force senior management to the negotiating table. Dunnes Stores staff nationwide are seeking secure hours and earnings; job security; fair pay; and the right to trade union representation. At the heart of the dispute is 15 hour contracts which can be spread over five days and prevent them from getting family income supplement or the dole. The striking workers in Ennis mounting two pickets, front and back of the store, say the response from shoppers and passers-by this morning has been brilliant. “It’s going very good and has started very well,” said a representative of the picketers who didn’t want to be named. “There’s a brilliant response. We’re getting a lot of support from people passing by and people have come up to the entrance in their cars and driven off again,” she told The Clare …