Oberstown workers protesting outside Dept of Children
Workers from Oberstown Children Detention Campus have begun a protest outside the Department of Children as part of an ongoing industrial relations dispute.
Workers at the Oberstown Children Detention Campus have staged a protest outside the Department of Children's Affairs, protesting an ongoing dispute over industrial relations. This action involves the Fórsa union and occurred in tandem with a 10-hour work stoppage at the Dublin campus, marking the third industrial action this month.
The strike followed a Fórsa member ballot that backed industrial action, including a potential full withdrawal of labor. Members have filed a ballot representing concerns such as assaults on staff and injuries requiring hospital treatment due to understaffing. Fórsa has expressed frustration, stating that efforts to engage with management over key issues broke down last week.
One staff member reported that some young individuals exploit the understaffing situation, leading to heightened violence and detrimental impacts on staff mental health. Daily risk assessments, in their view, are invalidated due to poor management practices, placing staff in unsafe conditions. In response, Oberstown management highlighted that they have hired 23 frontline staff in the past year, including two apprentices in Social Care.
They also noted a 40% decrease in low-level physical interventions over the past year, with just 30 recorded in over 8,000 care nights up to July 31. However, Fórsa’s assistant general secretary, Deirdre O’Connell, criticized Oberstown management for not incorporating key elements of Fórsa’s demands into their business case to the Department of Children.
The management claims these issues should be addressed through local bargaining separately, citing insufficient resources allocated to local bargaining to resolve them. This stance, according to O’Connell, stalls conflict resolution efforts and prolongs risks to staff and residents’ safety. Oberstown expressed regret over the work stoppage, stating their disappointment in the escalation occurring while they are still engaged in the industrial relations process.
They affirmed their commitment to working constructively towards a resolution, emphasizing their proactive approach to enhancing frontline staffing levels.
Written by urgent.news from RTE News's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
