Unions for voluntary sector carers to assess implications of public sector pay deal

Unions representing voluntary sector carers will meet over in the coming weeks to assess the implications of the public sector pay deal.

The health and social workers employed by voluntary and charity organisations have been involved in a long running campaign to restore a previous link between their members’ terms and those of employees at the HSE.

In the meantime, they say the majority of employees covered by an agreement reached in October to avert strike action have not yet received the pay increases promised, with the HSE only confirming the money required is to be made available in recent days.

The deal, which was reached hours before nearly 5,000 carers and other frontline staff at a number of organisations including Enable Ireland, DePaul Ireland and the Western Care Association were due to strike, provided for pay increases of 8 per cent paid over three instalments for the staff and included a commitment to address the wider gap in pay and conditions over the course of any new public sector pay deal.

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The first 3 per cent increase was due to be backdated to April of last year with a further 2 per cent to have kicked in on November 1st but both unions and employers in the sector say almost none of the staff in services funded by the HSE, known as Section 39 organisations, have seen any of the money yet.

Tusla, which funds child and family services in Section 56 organisations, is understood to have confirmed just before Christmas it would start to increase payments. Local authorities have been engaging with bodies that provide homeless services ultimately funded by the Department of Housing.

The sections referred to are of the respective Acts which deal with the provision of the various services.

The tens of thousands of staff affected will be due another increase of 3 per cent on March 1st but both unions and employers are already looking beyond that at the issue of how Friday’s public sector pay will be applied and whether full parity will be restored.

“Parity is absolutely what we intend to achieve here,” said senior Siptu health sector official Kevin Figgis on Sunday.

“The union group [which also includes Fórsa and the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation] will meet with a view to re-establishing contact with the Workplace Relations Commission so we can discuss the implementation of the new pay deal but the ballots on that have yet to happens and obviously we need to know the final numbers we are looking for before we can move forward.”

He said, however, that the overdue payments should be facilitated immediately.

Friday’s deal provided for 10.25 per cent increases for public sector workers earning €50,000 or more but up to 17.3 per cent for the least well paid.

Some of those working for the Section 39 and similar organisations would fall into that lower paid category but a spokesperson for the sector’s employers said they do not know how the detail of the deal, the structure and timing on increases, will be applied to their staff or whether the cost of any resulting increases to pension or PRSI payments will be covered.

Ultimately, said Mr Figgis, “if the Government is going to continue to contract these organisations to provide services to the public on behalf of the state then there is an obligation to ensure they are in a position to attract and retain the proper, safe levels of qualified staff and the only way that you can do that is to ensure the staff are treated the same as those working for the main competitor for workers in the health sector, the HSE.”

Responding to a query from The Irish Times, the HSE said it will start to make interim payments to larger service providers this week but that further detail may have to be provided before future sums are settled on and any corrections to those interim payments are made. Smaller organisations, those receiving funding of less than €250,000 annually “will be able to apply under the process if they have employees”.

“Any issues in relation to other pay-related costs will be referred to the relevant government department for clarification,” it said.

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