Coronavirus planning must not dilute workers’ rights
Labour Party TD for Dublin Fingal, Duncan Smith, has said that Coronavirus planning must not lead to the diluting of workers’ rights.
Deputy Smith said:
“The HSE should not be using the Coronavirus as an excuse to undermine the rights of healthcare workers.
“I trust our unions and healthcare staff to act in the best interests of the country to beat this virus and that any proposal to withdraw the right to Industrial action is needlessly provocative and is never acceptable.
“It is not acceptable that decisions on outsourcing of services during this crisis would be made on a permanent basis and trade unions are right to flag this issue.
“Workers and their unions should be able to negotiate with HSE management over the coming days and weeks over decisions that need to be made in relation to how resources are to be deployed.
“While the Labour Party welcomes the HSE lifting the recruitment ban for nurses and midwives, we need further clarity on whether the ban is still in place for other front line healthcare staff.”