The all-out strike will begin next week
The Minister for Health, Brian Cowen, has appealed to the country's nurses to reject what he called the blind alley of strike action. He told the Dáil tonight that the nurses should instead work with the Government and other public service unions on a new approach to public pay which could meet their aspirations. Mr. Cowen was responding to a Fine Gael motion calling on both sides in the dispute to agree to a cooling-off period and the postponement of strike action. Earlier today Mr. Cowen said that he believed a combination of the Labour Court's proposals, the findings of the Nursing Commission coupled with a new approach to public service pay determination could provide enough scope to address both pay and non-pay issues.
The Taoiseach also appealed to nurses to accept a Labour Court recommendation and not take strike action. Mr. Ahern was replying to Opposition questions in the Dáil; he said that if there were out-standing pay issues, they could be dealt with under the new Public Service Pay Rules. The four nurses' unions voted yesterday by more than 9-1 for an all-out strike, beginning next week.
