Over 130 staff at Longford disabilities provider balloting for industrial action over incremental pay row

Fórsa members working at St Christopher’s Services in Longford town have been balloting since last Monday in a row union officials say could end in all out strike action.

Talk of ever growing unrest among staff at the Battery Road facility over pay disparities between the service’s section 39 remuneration model and their HSE counterparts has failed to go away.

Equally, those concerns have been exacerbated by what union chiefs have described as being a failure to adhere to an incremental payment agreement made three years ago.

“The issue in dispute is the breach of a collective agreement around the payment of increments,” said Fórsa official Tony Martin.

He told of how management at St Christopher’s informed union members at a meeting last month of a decision made at the request of the HSE to suspend incremental payments in 2024 “until further notice” owing to financial pressures.

“A general meeting of members was attended by more than 70 members, and we are now balloting for industrial action – up to and including strike action – with the backing of Fórsa’s Health and Welfare divisional executive.”

The ballot remains open until midday today with its results expected to be made known as early as tomorrow.

Today's News in 90 seconds - 29th April 2024

News of the looming threat of possible industrial action at the long-established Longford facility comes after its chief executive officer Derek Scanlon resigned as a director from the board of St Christopher’s CLG last week.

Mr Scanlon said the decision did not impact his position as chief executive and was one that was taken on foot of advice from the charities regulator.

He added the nub of the issue centred on delays in funding from central government level, problems which have led to claims from staff over discrepancies with contributory pensions and difficulties in attracting new staff to the facility.

“The initial issue is a section 39 pay issue where the State is not providing us with sufficient funds to pay our staff as appropriately as other section 38 or HSE staff,” he said.

“You have people in the HSE paid on their correct grade now enforcing a decision that we don’t pay our staff on the correct salary scale. In recent months the HSE, at a very senior level, have told us to stop paying staff according to those scales and that creates a difficulty.

“The other problem we have is, our board made a decision in 2021 to pay staff on October 2021 scales by agreement with the HSE and the Government of the time and sufficient funding wasn’t provided to follow that through.”

He said the organisation had been forced to put new staff on higher entry salary scales in 2021 in order to “compete with everyone else in the marketplace”.

Mr Scanlon rubbished suggestions a number of leases taken out by St Christopher’s on rental properties could plug the gap between its own funding shortfalls and the incremental payment headaches which have coincided in the threat of industrial action.

“Our current income for the entire year including all the HSE and all ancillary income would be about €16.5m and the entire value of properties that are rented across the entire organisation would be something in the region of about €80,000 for the entire year,” he said.

Mr Scanlon said the organisation upheld a “very strong and positive working relationship” with union officials, an association which would be key in brokering a resolution to the impasse.

“Obviously we have that conciliation process in the WRC (Workplace Relations Commission),” he said.

"I won’t prejudge the outcome of the ballot, but should the ballot not be in favour of the organisation then I will be of course encouraging the unions back into the WRC process that we were in previously.”

Despite those assurances, the fallout surrounding St Christopher’s pay impasse has led to contrasting political commentary locally.

Fianna Fáil TD Joe Flaherty said he was conscious of the “angst and uncertainty” being felt by staff, adding he had been in contact with Disabilities Minister Anne Rabbitte and key departmental officials to try and resolve the issues facing the service provider as “expeditiously as possible”.

In contrast, Fine Gael Senator Michéal Carrigy refused to express confidence in Mr Scanlon or senior management officials of St Christopher’s over the handling of its present crisis.

“I have questions I want to get answers to and I haven’t got them as of yet and that is why I want to have a meeting with the board of management to get answers to the questions that have been put to me by both staff, service users families and the general public,” he said.

“I sincerely hope that (all out strike) doesn’t happen and I will do everything in my power to make sure it doesn’t happen but the staff didn’t take a decision as big as this for no reason.”

They were sentiments Longford County Councillors Peggy Nolan and Paul Ross shared.

The Fine Gael duo said conjecture surrounding the future of one of Longford’s most treasured of organisations had become a daily source of conversation on the doorsteps ahead of June’s local elections.

Cllr Ross also referenced how a consultancy report commissioned by the HSE into St Christopher’s due diligence process identified “weaknesses in internal financial controls and information deficits”, findings he said had left staff in a state of collective disenchantment.

“We have huge concerns and we feel those concerns are justified and everyone is very, very fearful for the future of St Christopher’s.

“From what I am hearing we absolutely are,” he said, when asked if the pay standoff was on the brink of possible picket lines being drawn.

“The staff at the minute are very disillusioned and I don’t believe the staff have confidence at this moment in time and that will have to be restored.

“I haven’t met with the management directly but what I am hearing on the ground is there is a serious amount of repair work to be done with the board and management team. Staff are very disillusioned at the moment and it is at an all-time low from what I can see.”