County wide strike action
Schools, council offices, hospitals impacted
DISRUPTIONS to regular services across the county are being felt today (Wednesday) as teachers, nurses, doctors and civil servants engage in one of the largest public sector strikes in some time.
Outdoor staff from Galway County and City Councils are on the picket line, as are civil servants in the Courts Office. The HSE have said that all non-urgent healthcare services in hospitals and community settings are likely to be cancelled because of the strike action involving up to 400,000 public sector workers nationwide.
Schools are closed in the county as teachers protest outside schools in Tuam, Dunmore, Glenamaddy and elsewhere, while staff in third-level campuses have withdrawn their lecturing services for the day.
The 115 ASTI members of High Cross College are on the picket line at the secondary school’s two campuses in Tuam. Lorraine Finn, the ASTI spokesperson for the East Galway area and a teacher at the school said that the salaries of teachers and public servants remain reflective of the austerity measures introduced in 2009 following the economic crash.
“We’re still paying the USC and extra pension deductions. They were supposed to be austerity measures and we’re still paying them 17 years later,” said Ms Finn.
“It’s not fair on anyone to be still paying these deductions. Society has changed dramatically in those 17 years, and we’ve kept pace with those changes in the classroom, but we’re still not being treated fairly.
“This protest is about pay. We have fallen behind the rate of inflation. I think there is so little left in people’s pockets now when they get their salary and pay all their bills. People are so frustrated and distraught at the lack of help from Government for what I would call the ‘squeezed middle’.
“We don’t want to go out striking. No teacher in my school wants to be out, but it’s gone so far that we have to show the Government the frustration that’s out there,” she told The Tuam Herald.
The public sector strike has come about due to the Government’s failure to negotiate a new pay deal for the sector and a general frustration that salaries are not keeping up with inflation.
Three picket lines are in place in Galway city for outdoor staff of Galway City and County Councils.
Some County Council buildings are closed to members of the public and there are disruptions to services.
“All outdoor staff are not making themselves available for the 24 hours of the strike action,” said Patrick Thorton, a SIPTU Organiser representing outdoor staff in Galway City and County Councils, as well as Mayo County Council.
“The office staff are predominantly represented by Fórsa, but the same is expected of them. There will be major disruptions to the local authority’s ability to deliver certain services.
“The pay aspect is important with the current cost of living crisis. The consensus among all our members is that they are feeling the pinch. Paying bills and keeping the head above water is a challenge at the moment.”
Today’s strike action is believed to be larger than the ICTU strike of 2009. The discontent among public sector workers has been growing in recent months after talks between ICTU and the Department of Expenditure over a new pay deal stalled in June.