Siptu lifts picket at Waterford hospital

Unofficial dispute: Siptu members lifted their picket at Waterford Regional Hospital last night but the unofficial dispute led to 18 medical procedures being cancelled yesterday.

The Siptu members had been protesting outside the hospital after their firm lost a security contract at the hospital.

Nine security employees picketing the hospital were supported by members of the ATGWU and TEEU after Sentry Security lost the contract to Secureways which began a new contract at the hospital yesterday morning.

Sentry Security had held the contract for seven years.

Patients were advised yesterday morning to contact the hospital before any appointments, as members of staff including cleaners, porters and auxiliary nursing staff refused to cross picket lines.

More than 20 employees of Waterford Regional were standing at entrances to the hospital on the Dunmore road yesterday afternoon.

The nine security employees involved in the dispute met management at the hospital later yesterday afternoon. The Siptu members then agreed to attend a Labour Relations Commission meeting on Thursday and lifted the picket.

Siptu confirmed it had contacted Secureways regarding the continuity of members' employment under the Transfer of Undertakings Regulations 2003.

Security officers at the hospital would now be working at a lower rate of €7.65, 5 per cent below those involved in the dispute, the union said.

Criticising hospital management, Siptu branch organiser Terry Bryan said: "The message to the management and other employers is that we are not going to tolerate this race to the bottom."

He said security employees at the hospital had been receiving shift and unsociable hours premiums, gained through collective bargaining.

Siptu said it hoped the new security employees would get the same allowances.

Roger Cahill (37), a Siptu member and security employee, said there was no incentive to reapply for their positions with Secureways for 5 per cent less than they had been paid before yesterday.

Mr Cahill said: "No one has taken account or placed any value on the experience we have gained over the last couple of years."

A spokeswoman for the HSE South said the hospital was being "used as a tool in an external industrial relations issue".

"The hospital will do everything possible to reschedule cancelled operations as early as possible, once the unofficial action relating to an external employer is resolved," said the spokeswoman.

She said the hospital was "back to normal" regarding operations and procedures, but urged the public with appointments to contact Waterford Regional Hospital beforehand.