UNHAPPY.. Maeve Howe, Arlene Johnston, Rodney Doherty (Branch Welfare Officer) and Jill Weir (Branch Secretary) are not happy with the current situation
FERMANAGH people should be “very” worried about the future of the Enniskillen hospital, a union secretary has warned.
Patricia McKeown, who is the regional secretary of Unison, was speaking at a public meeting in Enniskillen on Monday to garner support for the strike ballot.
The Fermanagh and Omagh Unison branch, which represents the largest number of health workers in the county, were told that over the next two years, up to 20,000 jobs are at risk within the public sector.
In opposition to what the union said were issues surrounding pay increases, the cuts to health and job security, Unison is to ballot around 2,000 members in its local branch.
It is understood that the strike will take place on March 13.
Speaking at the Westville Hotel, the regional secretary warned members to be prepared for “serious cuts”.
She told the crowd: “People of Enniskillen think the issue is settled. The new hospital is open, but be very, very worried about what’s happening or going to happen with the new hospital. First of all there is a private company in there, with offices, we want to know why.
“That same private company has been making millions out of the health service in Northern Ireland since 2007. Secondly, what was happening in Omagh is happening in Enniskillen, in Derry and that is right across the Western Trust and that is some very, very serious proposals for cuts, not least the home care. Home care packages are being cut everywhere and is the residential care homes is seriously under threat.
“From next week they will be sending in a team right across the Western Board and we need to be worried about that. We can ill-afford these cuts. We need to do the same thing in Enniskillen, we need to get angry because what’s coming to them is criminal.”
She told members that the purpose of the meeting was to explain why they are taking industrial action against the proposed cuts.
She added: “The union has a ballot out there for strike action. We are not alone, there are a lot of other unions balloting too. The intention is that by March 13, there will be a mass strike across Northern Ireland including buses, trains, civil service, schools, hospitals, home care, district nurses, essential public services because we are facing the biggest crisis we have ever faced.
“Just before Christmas an emergency budget was announced, that budget has cuts right throughout it. It places people in jeopardy and it’s a real broadside against peoples’ fundamental human rights.
“In the coming 12 months to two years we are going to lose between 6,000 and 20,000 jobs.
“Places in the west can ill-afford job loss. We have reached a place where staffing levels are unsafe. If people report unsafe practices they are bullied and intimidated. This kind of behaviour that have brought our people to the position of deciding that they do have to ballot for industrial action.”
To read more.. Subscribe to current edition
Receive quality journalism wherever you are, on any device. Keep up to date from the comfort of your own home with a digital subscription.
Any time | Any place | Anywhere