The Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) will ballot it members for industrial action if demands on pay and staffing levels are not met.
INMO General Secretary Liam Doran said union members are “broken and demoralised” and cannot cope any longer with reduced salaries and unpaid additional hours.
“Immediately we are beginning to consult and ballot our members on the staffing issue. Our members are overworked and they are not able to provide care,” he said.
“They are working in an unsafe working environment. You cannot accept overcrowding everyday and understaffing every day. So we will have ballots going on very quickly and we may have industrial action quite quickly.”
The union plans to consult with other public service unions in order to force an acceleration of pay restoration “either through Lansdowne Road or a successor to Lansdowne road.”
“Our members expect that to happen much quicker than is currently proposed which is totally unacceptable,” he said.
He said industrial action may be on the cards “quite quickly” with regard to staffing, workload and unpaid overtime:
