Over 100 staff working in the laundry, catering and portering departments at University Hospital Waterford will engage in a work-to-rule from Monday May 27th.
The announcement was made by trade union Unite.
The union says members voted to take industrial action following a failure by the HSE to include laundry staff in a regrading scheme, which it's claimed has left them financially worse off.
Laundry staff have historically been aligned with catering and portering staff.
In addition to the failure to include laundry workers in the regrading scheme, it's claimed some upgraded staff were awarded incremental credits when calculating their new pay rates.
However, Unite says the exclusion of portering and catering workers from incremental credits means long serving workers in these grades are required to work up their increments again - resulting in a financial loss for the workers concerned.
The union says it will be available to engage with UHW during the industrial action.
Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “Support staff keep our hospitals running. These essential workers do some of the hardest jobs for the lowest wages in our health service, and it beggars belief that they have been sidelined in the HSE’s regrading scheme.
“Unite always prioritises the jobs, pay and conditions of its members and the workers at Waterford Hospital will receive Unite’s complete support.”
Unite regional officer Eoin Drummey added: “The HSE’s shambolic implementation of this deeply flawed regrading scheme means that laundry, portering and catering workers will suffer an unjust financial penalty – not just because of the failure to upgrade laundry workers, but because long-serving portering and catering workers are required to work up their increments. This again means a financial loss for the workers concerned."
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