NIPSA announces strike action for BSO Health Workers
NIPSA members who work in Business Services Organisation (BSO) in Health Social Care will begin targeted action, including a week long strike, from Saturday 16th December 2023.
The selective action will commence with action short of strike and be followed by strike action from Monday 18th to Friday 22nd December.
Members in BSO warehouse operations within the Procurement and Logistics Service (PaLS) will walk out in response to the continuing failure of the government to settle the long running dispute over pay and safe staffing.
NIPSA Deputy General Secretary Patrick Mulholland said “These workers, like all others across the health and social care sector, have endured successive years of below inflation pay increases. They provide a vital service to the hospitals across the country and are recognised by everyone bar those who hold the purse strings as essential workers.
Enough is enough.
These are some of the lowest paid workers in the health service and it is long past the time that they should have decent and fair pay for the work they perform.
They are taking this action on behalf of all their colleagues across the health service and indeed the wider public sector, where an injection of cash is needed to settle long running pay inequalities and give them the pay they need and deserve.
They are calling on the Secretary of State to make the money available to settle this dispute and to properly fund public services in N. Ireland.”
NIPSA will seek to ensure that management put in place appropriate derogations to ensure safety is maintained.
(NIPSA HEO for Health Catherine Arkinson delivering the strike notice to BSO HQ, Franklin Street)