More than 130 employees Saint Christopher at Longford are expected to begin industrial action in a week and a half over an ongoing pay dispute with little recent movement and no clear signs of a resolution.

The dispute concerns the non-payment of increases promised under a previous salary agreement.

In May, proposed industrial action at St Christopher’s Services, in Longford, was postponed, pending the start of negotiations at Labor Relations Commission (WRC).

Management said an HSE directive had prevented increases from being paid to the provider’s intellectual disability staff.

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A Sotck exchange The union, which represents the workers, served notice of industrial action on St. Christopher’s on Thursday, October 24 and industrial action is expected to begin on Monday, November 18.

A Fórsa spokesperson, asked by the Longford leader if there would be more dialogue, said they “always remain available to speak” to management.

“Our preference would be to do this under the auspices of the WRC Conciliation Services,” she said. “Should further discussions take place, the priority for our members would be to resolve the issue of non-payment of increments, which have been arbitrarily removed by management.”

The Fórsa spokesperson said the situation had changed little, but workers were meeting regularly with their employer to discuss how industrial action would work.

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Local Fianna Fáil TD Joe Flaherty(pictured) said he welcomed Fórsa’s decision that they were ready to engage in dialogue. No one, least of all parents of service users and staff, wants to see a situation of overzealousness.

“I am hopeful and confident that there is capacity and opportunity in a dialogue framework to negotiate a settlement here and I would certainly encourage both parties, unions and management, to accept the offer of unions to engage on this issue,” he added. he said. “I think we are probably closer to a resolution than we have ever been and I am confident that a solution to this problem will be achieved through dialogue.”

Deputy Flaherty has previously said he has “tremendous sympathy and understanding” for the staff.

The Lanesboro-based politician said the “difficulty” is that they are a “Section 39” organization and their terms and conditions are at St Christopher’s, as opposed to the Department of Health/HSE. in County Longford as all 14 candidates in the Longford-Westmeath constituency visit homes and campaign for votes following the confirmation this week of the general election date.

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CEO Marian Keigher, who replaced Derek Scanlon on an interim basis in June after he resigned, said St Christopher’s was meeting with unions.

“I totally understand the staff’s distress at their position and we want to speak to the unions and try to find a solution,” she said. “This is a national problem and one that needs to be addressed nationally and locally.”

Ms Keigher said discussions were ongoing and they wanted a “fair outcome” for everyone.

“I want to negotiate with the unions and we meet on what we need to do regarding zeal, but we want to sit down and discuss with them to negotiate with the unions,” she added.

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