Concerns are mounting that Ireland’s hospitals and schools could face serious disruption in the coming weeks, after more than 100,000 public sector workers began work-to-rule action on Wednesday, with two full strike days now planned for October 14 and October 21.
The action centres on the continued absence of a new public service pay agreement. The previous deal expired at the end of June, and formal talks on a successor have still not begun, prompting a growing list of unions representing nurses, doctors, teachers, local authority staff and gardaí to seek mandates for industrial action.
Fórsa, the State’s largest public sector union, confirmed its members had joined the work-to-rule after 96.6% of those who voted backed action. The union said that with no public service agreement in place, it now considers itself formally in dispute with the Government as the employer of public service workers. Workers taking part are continuing their core duties but withdrawing from voluntary extra work, such as additional unpaid hours.
Health services are expected to feel significant strain. The Irish Medical Organisation (IMO) confirmed that 94% of doctors balloted, including hospital consultants, non-consultant hospital doctors, and public and community health doctors, voted in favour of action up to and including strike action, calling it a response to “Government inaction” on pay and unresolved local bargaining arrangements from the last agreement. Separately, the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) confirmed more than 99% of its members backed similar action, with nurses and midwives expected to focus solely on essential patient care during work-to-rule measures. The Psychiatric Nurses Association also began its own work-to-rule from October 1.
Education is braced for even more disruption. The Association of Secondary Teachers Ireland (ASTI) confirmed 95% of members who voted backed industrial action, with a work-to-rule beginning October 5 and a one-day strike to follow on October 14. The Irish National Teachers’ Organisation (INTO), representing the majority of primary teachers, has gone further, confirming plans for a second one-day strike a week later, on October 21. The Teachers Union of Ireland (TUI), representing roughly 20,000 secondary teachers, was due to conclude its own ballot shortly afterward. If its members also vote for action, as expected, virtually all schools across the country could close on both strike days.
The dispute has widened beyond health and education. Members of the Garda Representative Association, representing rank-and-file gardaí, have separately announced several days of action calling for improved pay and conditions, adding further pressure on the Government ahead of October.
Kevin Callinan, chair of the Public Services Committee (PSC) of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions and Fórsa’s general secretary, confirmed that while unions intended to take action short of a strike “as far as possible,” a formal one-day stoppage with picket lines at workplaces nationwide had been agreed for October 14, alongside a further strike confirmed for October 21.
More than 400,000 people work in Ireland’s public sector, with roughly 60% estimated to be union members, a figure significantly higher in sectors like health and education. The Department of Public Expenditure has said unions have chosen to take industrial action rather than engage in talks, while union leaders maintain the Government has repeatedly failed to provide a credible forum for negotiating a new pay deal that reflects the pressures facing workers and their families.
With both the HSE and the Department of Education yet to confirm detailed contingency plans, patients, parents and commuters across the country are being urged to prepare for significant disruption to everyday services as October approaches, unless a breakthrough in talks is reached beforehand.
