Tuesday. 26th March - Ambulance personnel members of the Psychiatric Nurses Association (PNA) will hold a protest at Leinster House, Kildare St. tomorrow Wednesday 27th March from 2.30 p.m. to 4 p.m. in their continuing campaign for their right to join, and be represented by the PNA as the union of their choice.
Separately, PNA has announced that over 500 PNA ambulance branch members (including paramedics, advanced paramedics and emergency medical technicians) will hold two further days of strike on Tuesday 2nd April, and Wednesday 10th April from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day.
Tomorrow’s protest, and the further strike action in April is a further stage in the determined campaign by PNA ambulance personnel members that has already involved four days of strike action on January 22nd, February 15th, 28th and March 1st.
Peter Hughes, PNA General Secretary said ambulance personnel members would bring their protest to the Dail tomorrow in pursuit of a fundamental right of workers to be members of the union of their choice. ‘With tomorrow’s Dail protest and the further strike days in April, our PNA ambulance members are showing once again that they are determined to secure their right to organise and be represented by PNA , a trade union of over 40 years’ experience in representing workers within the health and social care services’.
‘Hundreds of frontline ambulance personnel have made their decision to join PNA since its ambulance branch was established in 2010 and PNA ambulance branch now represents more members by far than at least one of the two unions recognised by the HSE for frontline paramedics.
It is unacceptable that the HSE is continuing to attempt to ignore and frustrate the wishes of these frontline staff to be members of the PNA’. ‘As we move towards two further days of strike action in the national ambulance service in April the HSE continues to make no effort to address or resolve this dispute, despite the clear statement from the Minister for Health, Simon Harris and other Oireachtas members that they want to see the issue resolved through the WRC and consultation.
I am calling on the HSE to respond to the Minister’s request and bring this unnecessary and divisive dispute to an end.’
Media Contact: Derek Cunningham 086-2430535
