Cost of living key to any pay talks, say INMO members
As unions prepare to sit down with the Government to hammer out a new pay deal there is a determination among workers that any new deal must cover increases in the cost of living.
Members of the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) at Cork University Hospital (CUH) are insisting that any new pay deal must factor in increases in the cost of living. Róisín Duffy, a 23-year-old midwife, remembers her passion for nursing and midwifery since childhood, stating her aspiration to become a midwife at the age of four.
After graduating, she began her first full-time job at CUH, but soon found that the job is not as she had envisioned. She and other nurses and midwives have gone on strike, demanding a new national pay agreement that acknowledges the cost of living.
Duffy has encountered issues such as a temporary contract with no permanency guarantee, leading some to consider emigrating to countries with better pay and working conditions. She believes that the government must recognize the crucial role nurses and midwives play and adjust their salaries accordingly to cope with the escalating cost of living, which includes high grocery prices, fuel costs, and other everyday expenses.
Foreign nurses like Jibin Soman and his wife Aiswarya, who also work in the Irish health service, echo these sentiments, expressing difficulty in making ends meet and struggling to save despite working multiple jobs. They assert that the current pay does not even meet the cost of living, and hope that the government will hear their concerns and take action.
Written by urgent.news from RTE News's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
