All out to support the nurses' mass rally in Dublin on Wednesday, November 22nd!

national | worker & community struggles and protests | opinion/analysis Monday October 23, 2006 01:21 by Paul Kinsella - CPSU Activist And An Post Worker (Strictly Personal Capacity!)! paulkinsella53 at yahoo dot com 53 Lorcan Grove, Santry, Dublin 9, Eire 0851478100

End the scandal of people lying for days on hospital trolleys!

Ireland's 40,000 nurses are to step up their campaign for a pay rise by holding a mass rally in Dublin on 22nd November. Let’s go all out to support this mass rally in Dublin on Wednesday, November 22nd, this is going to be huge!

Obstensibly, this is about the nurses' pay claim, which includes a 35-hour working week, a Dublin weighting allowance and pay anomalies with social care workers, but it's also a reflection of the nurses’ anger over the continuing chronic overcrowding in A & E and the continuing lack of hospital beds. This is something that we should rally everyone around, especially workers and the Trade Unions, and get them to support this protest on 22nd November. I think we all have at some stage; either personally or through a family member or relative, witnessed the chronic overcrowding in A & E and people lying on hospital trolleys for days on end. At least we have plenty of time to organise properly for this, so I'm calling calling on all workers to actively persuade their Unions to actively participate in the nurses' rally on 22nd November by getting motions passed by their Branches supporting the nurses' rally on November 22, and calling for their members to support this protest. I'm fairly confident that the Executive of my Union, the Civil & Public Service Union (CPSU) will back this protest and call on all their members to support the nurses' rally on 22 November. However, great as it will be to mobilise the CPSU to support the nurses’ rally on November 22nd, we really need to get the Trade Union leaders up off their backsides. If the CPSU Executive do, as I hope they will, support the nurses’ rally on 22nd November, I hope that the Executive of the Dublin Council of Trade Unions (DCTU) will officially support the nurses’ rally, and will organise a mass mobilisation of workers, similar to, if not bigger than the Irish Ferries ‘Day of Protest’ last December, and they would get the numbers as health is an emotive issue for many people! It will be left to the likes of the DCTU and the other Trades Councils such as the Cork and Limerick Trades Councils, and groups of rank and file workers such as the Busworkers Action Group (BAG) to organise for this protest, as the Irish Congess of Trade Unions (ICTU), is too wedded to their beloved so-called 'partnership', and have become so close to their true friends, the bosses and the Government that they won't support the nurses' rally on November 22. Indeed, ICTU have done everything to stab the nurses in the back, and to sabotage the Irish Nurses Organisation (INO) 'Enough Is Enough's Campaign to end the scandal of people lying on hospital trolleys for days on end!