Thread by @UCDMedicine

Personal opinion alert. Getting really fed up of the pantomime around public sector strikes. The seeds of the current disputes were shown during the "emergency measures" during our economic crisis. Rather than cutting salaries across the board, Govt and Unions were happy to

throw new recruits under the bus. As if their lack of previous service made them undeserving of #Equalpayforequalwork. Socially divisive and cowardly.

Govt's credibility on #FEMPI was destroyed when politicians voted for reversal of their own pay (without any new productivity). Shocking lack of leadership or solidarity to those who are working the country out of a mess that they didn't cause.

The disingenuous leaking of fake salary details doesn't help build goodwill or resolve the dispute. The through-the-night last ditch efforts don't fool anyone and are just disrespectful to both WRC and @ingridmileyRTE

It is clear to anyone who is familiar with their lot, that our nurses are reluctant strikers. that they care about their patient's more than the HSE does, that they are really suffering financial hardship on top of intolerable working conditions.

If HSE, Dept of Health or DPER really cared about maintaining public sector pay agreement they'd use their imagination and would engage constructively. They could propose any number of reforms which would improve health service and justify pay accommodation without breaking PSA.

Allowing strike action to proceed only serves to punish patients and further poison industrial relations in health.
Like the Gardaí, Luas, etc., the dispute will only be resolved through negotiation. Why not cut to the chase.

As I said at the outset, this thread is a personal reflection on why I #StandWithNursesAndMidwives