Fórsa trade union has confirmed that notice has been served for the resumption, and escalation, of industrial action by perfusionists in a dispute over the non-implementation of a Labour Court recommendation.
The action next week will see 25 perfusionists across five hospital sites engage in a work stoppage on Thursday 2nd and Friday 3rd July. It follows the union’s decision to pause earlier stoppages to allow the issue to be addressed in the context of national pay talks. However, no new public service pay talks forum has been established, and no progress has been made towards resolving the dispute.
Fórsa has also served notice of further industrial action, with three additional days of stoppages planned from Monday 6th to Wednesday 8th July.
Fórsa official Ryan McKinney said: “The Labour Court recommendation is clear and unambiguous. It found that the HSE breached a long-standing agreement linking perfusionist pay with that of medical scientists, and recommended that the appropriate pay scale be applied with retrospective effect from 1st January 2024.
“Our members have shown considerable patience and restraint, but they cannot accept the continued failure to implement what is a binding recommendation,” he said.
Mr McKinney added that the issue is not open to negotiation: “This is a matter of implementation. The HSE and the Department of Health need to honour the Labour Court recommendation without further delay.”
He said the union has advised the HSE that it is available to meet to discuss contingency plans. He said members remain fully aware of the critical role they play in life-saving cardiac surgery, and that any disruption to scheduled cardiac procedures arises directly from the employer’s failure to implement the Labour Court recommendation.
Join a trade union that wins. Join Fórsa.