LAST UPDATE | 27 Feb

SIPTU MEMBERS EMPLOYED in Section 39 organisations have voted overwhelmingly for strike action in relation to a long-running pay dispute.

The ballot was counted today and 96% of members voted in favour of strike action, with a turnout of 70%

Section 39 organisations are charities and organisations contracted by the State to provide health services.

They work across a number of areas, including disability and primary care.

Historically, their pay was linked to HSE staff, but during the economic crash, these organisations were instructed to impose pay cuts in line with those made on HSE staff.

However, during the recovery, HSE staff pay was restored, but additional funding to restore the pay of Section 39 organisation staff was not provided.

SIPTU sector organiser Damian Ginley described the vote as an “important step in our fight for pay justice for our members in Section 39 organisations”. 

“The mandate from our membership for industrial action on this issue is strong and clear,” said McGinley.

In October 2023, an interim agreement was reached at the Workplace Relations Commission with a view to returning pay parity with HSE grades for similar roles.

McGinley added that the “ball is now firmly in the hands of the Government” and that it has the “opportunity to do the right thing for our members when employer representatives and unions meet for talks at the Workplace Relations Commission this coming Monday.”

He said workers need “fine words from leading figures in the Government” concerning Section 39 workers to be “backed up by providing the funds to Section 39 organisations so these workers are provided with the pay justice they have long fought for”.

Meanwhile, Section 39 organisation worker and SIPTU activist, Martha Buckley, remarked that “we cannot be let down again”. 

“The previous incarnation of this Government failed to honour its commitments to justly deal with our long-standing pay claim,” said Buckley.

She said that Tánaiste Simon Harris gave a “commitment that the Government would mandate department officials to implement fully the agreement for pay justice for Section 39 organisation workers” and that this “clear instruction” has yet to be honoured.

She added that if the government “falls short again, our members have delivered a mandate for action to be taken in this dispute”. 

“Such action will have an adverse impact on client services and is the last thing that our members wish to undertake,” said Buckley. 

“However, without action now, our organisations do not have a future as workers are being forced to seek employment elsewhere due to a lack of adequate pay.”

‘Putting them through the wringer’

Sinn Féin’s spokesperson on disability, Ruairí Ó Murchú, said that the government “needs to get real and for once and for all sort out the pay issue with Section 39 workers”.

He accused the government of “putting these workers through the wringer again’ by ‘leaving them with no option but to ballot for strike”.

“When this government was formed, they put the emphasis on disability services and providing for those with disabilities,” said Ó Murchú.

“But when it comes to putting their money where their mouth is, they have been found wanting, again. It’s time for the government to get real.”

He added that Section 39 organisations “are among the hardest-working and most dedicated healthcare professionals in the State” and that the “government has created the situation where there is huge reliance on these workers but are refusing to pay them what their counterparts in the public sector are getting”. 

Ó Murchú said the “pay gap is significant, at 15% or more”.

“It’s not much to ask – equal pay for equal work – but the government has not followed through on that,” said Ó Murchú.

“The government now has an opportunity, before the action takes place next week, to sort this out.”

Elsewhere, People Before Profit TD Richard Boyd Barrett said that Section 39 workers have “faced low pay and pay discrimination for many years”. 

“Many are paid as little as €13 per hour and two pay cuts imposed on them in the austerity years have never been restored,” said Boyd Barrett.

He added that they have received a pay increase of just €1 in 10 years.

“In 2023, Section 39 workers got an agreement at the WRC for an 8% pay increase and a commitment to restore pay parity with HSE workers doing the same job, but the Government never honoured the agreement,” said Boyd Barrett.

He remarked that the “plight of Section 39 workers took centre stage during the general election campaign”. 

“In the Dáil today, I reminded Simon Harris that during the election, in an encounter that went viral, he treated Section 39 worker Charlotte Fallon with contempt as she tried to explain the issues in their dispute to him,” said Boyd Barrett.