It was the second such protest in a week and members of the INMO and Siptu are now set to take full blown industrial action next Monday (March 22). Members on the picket line told the Kilkenny People that they wanted to resolve the dispute but needed management to engage in proper negotiations with them in order to do so. “Management have resisted all efforts from the Labour Relations Committee (LRC) to enter into talks. If there were proper negotiations and if it was found that it was needed the feeling is that most members would accept negotiated pay cuts,” one employee said.


Following a tense week and amid allegations of threatening behaviour from management to staff a decision by the IMNO to bring the proposed strike forward to last Monday was cancelled and a second lunchtime protest took place.


There was movement on both sides over the past seven days with a proposal from management that the pay cuts would be suspended for two weeks to allow management to verify their claim that they have been making a loss in recent years.


Unions representing staff put a number of proposals to management on Friday morning iincluding that management agree to restore the pay of members to where it was prior to January 1 and to agree to an independent assessor to examine the financial situation and status of the company. Members also committed to work constructively to find any savings that are needed should savings be identified by the assessor and agreed that this work would be completed by March 31 and they added that this process should be done through the LRC. They also sought assurances from management normal working would be restored for our members.


On Monday Aut Even Management responded with counter proposals. Lorraine Monaghan, Industrial Relations Officers with the IMNO told the Kilkenny People that the proposals will be considered. “It appears from the outset that they fall short of what the INMO and Siptu are looking for. They are proposing that the pay cut will be suspended until March 31 only and they will then revert back to the reduced rates,” she said. She added that the extent of the financial review will be to verify that the hospital has been loss making over the past three years. “The unions are already aware that the hospital had been loss making however management never resorted to cutting the pay of staff in the past. The unions are seeking a full independent financial review in order to establish the financial situation and should savings be identified, then the unions will work with management to achieve same,” remarked Ms Monaghan.


Ms Monaghan added that management continued to refuse the invitation by the LRC to attend conciliation talks. “It is disappointing that management refuse to utilize the industrial relations machinery of the state, the very function of which is to aid the resolution of workplace disputes, such as that in Aut Even,” she said.