More than 300,000 workers strike over pay in Ireland — BBC News

In the Republic of Ireland, more than 300,000 public sector workers, including nurses, doctors, teachers and civil servants, have begun a 24-hour strike over a long-running pay dispute with the government. This was reported by BBC News.

Possible school closures

Schools across the country are expected to close, hospital appointments to be cancelled and picket lines to be held because of the strike. Ireland's Minister for Public Expenditure, Jack Chambers, called the strike very disappointing and said it would cause significant disruption to the economy. According to him, thousands of hospital appointments are planned to be cancelled.

The next public sector workers' strike is scheduled for October 21. At the end of September, more than 100,000 nurses, school staff and civil servants began working to rule. At the beginning of October, primary and secondary school teachers resorted to this form of protest.

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Trade unions' position

Nearly 97% of Fórsa union members who took part in the vote on the labour dispute supported strike action. Fórsa is the largest trade union for civil service workers in the Republic of Ireland.

SIPTU representative Brendan O'Brien previously said that public services had largely been maintained thanks to workers' willingness to work beyond normal requirements. According to him, the government had not created grounds for formal negotiations, so union members decided to act collectively.

Linda Kelly, general secretary of the Association of Secondary Teachers Ireland, said that educators face serious difficulties because of pay levels and are disappointed with the government's approach. A teacher in Dublin told RTÉ that her salary no longer goes as far as it used to, while her colleague moved to Dubai for several years to save for a housing down payment.