A thousand march in Cork against privatising Home Help service

'A return to the days when Home Helps were paid a pound an hour from the ‘biscuit tin’ and when employers refused to recognise these vital health service providers will be resisted'

HUNDREDS of SIPTU members in the Home Help service marched through Cork city centre last Saturday as part of their campaign against the outsourcing of the service by the Health Service Executive (HSE).

A thousand marchers assembled at 1.30pm at Connolly Hall, Lapps Quay, and from there marched to Grand Parade.

Addressing the crowd at Grand Parade, SIPTU Health Division Organiser Paul Bell said the union will resist attempts by the HSE to erode Home Helps’ hard-won terms and conditions of employment. He said:

“A return to the days when Home Helps were paid a pound an hour from the ‘biscuit tin’ and when employers refused to recognise these vital health service providers will be resisted.

“We will resist the casualisation of our members’ work and reductions in the hours of care they provide.

“These injustices are not only impacting on workers’ livelihoods but in many cases also impacting on service users, most of whom are vulnerable senior citizens who are totally reliant on the care provided to them by Home Helps.”

The SIPTU rep said the HSE must honour Home Helps’ existing contracts of employment “and not allow the hours of care they provide to be cut to the point where their jobs are no longer viable and vulnerable clients are left without an adequate service”.

The SIPTU union and HSE attended a conciliation conference at the Labour Relations Commission on 7 March to discuss the threat facing the Home Help service from cutbacks and outsourcing to private ‘for profit’ companies but no progress was achieved.

A full hearing of the issues currently facing the Home Help service has been scheduled for the Labour Court for Tuesday 5 June.