LRC Mediates In Hospital Dispute

Ireland's Labour Relations Commission (LRC) has intervened in the on-going dispute between trade union IMPACT and the Health Service Executive (HSE) over an alleged jobs freeze in the health service.

IMPACT members in both Sligo General and Letterkenny General Hospital have been involved industrial action since May - and they are refusing to cover posts left vacant by the recruitment embargo and are also refusing to work overtime.

The union says service delivery is being undermined by the loss of more than 2,700 jobs since last year.

Now, the LRC has invited both parties - the union and the HSE - to a meeting tomorrow afternoon.

Ireland's Labour Relations Commission was initially established as a consequence of industrial unrest, which in turn led to the Minister for Labour establishing a Commission of Inquiry on Industrial Relations.

The Commission of Inquiry reported in 1981 recommending an Industrial Relations Bill which was published in December 1989 and was followed by extensive consultation with the employers’ representatives and the Irish Congress of Trade Unions.

Enactment of the new law led to the establishment of the Labour Relations Commission under the Industrial Relations Act, 1990, which became law in July, 1990 and the Commission was established on 21 January 1991.