Local wheelchair users to be impacted by work stoppage

The decision of SIPTU members employed by the Irish Wheelchair Association (IWA) to hold a one day work stoppage on Tuesday of next week, July 5, is expected to have a severe impact on the services provided to local wheelchair users.

The IWA operates a Day Service at Ballinagar, on the outskirts of Tullamore, and a second centre in Portlaoise, both of which provide vital day care services to wheelchair users from a wide catchment area.

IWA Personal Assistants who visit wheelchair users in their own homes to provide personal care and to assist with their shopping and social needs will also be subject to next week’s work stoppage.

SIPTU members voted overwhelmingly to hold a work stoppage on Tuesday next in a pay dispute in which they are demanding their first wage rise in 14 years.

The union’s Community Division Organiser, Adrian Kane, has claimed that the failure of their members in the IWA to receive a pay rise is not only leading to hardship as the cost of living continues to escalate, but it is also “threatening the future of the IWA and the vital services it provides.”

Mr Kane added that it was “with a heavy heart” that their members felt they had “no other option” but to vote for industrial action as part of their long-running campaign for pay justice, which he said is “a direct result” of the failure of the Government to engage with unions on pay and conditions.

The SIPTU spokesman predicted that the country is facing “a flow of workers out of the care and community sector” unless the issue of pay and working conditions is urgently addressed. “Our members have suffered more than a decade of discontent and they will take no more” he said.

Next week’s work stoppages are the first step in a wider co-ordinated campaign of upcoming industrial action across the entire care and community sector which is expected to result in a disruption of services in the coming months.

SIPTU activist and IWA Personal Assistant, Deborah Walsh, outlined the tasks she performs for service users who are confined to wheelchairs, such as personal care like toileting and showering, and also assisting them with shopping and going to the cinema.

“This ensures that the service users remain active in their communities, but we have not had a pay rise since 2008, which is 14 years ago, and we do basically the same job as Healthcare Assistants in the HSE but we are paid considerably less.”

Ms. Walsh said IWA Personal Assistants “do a very important job” and she said the reality of the situation is that unless they receive a proper rate of pay they will “look elsewhere” for employment. “In that situation our service users will suffer and their ability to live independent lives will be threatened” she said.