IHC staff set to ban sleepovers

Disabled people in IHC homes across Taranaki could be without staff on Monday night as union members prepare to strike over a wage dispute.

A 24-hour ban on sleepover shifts means community support workers around the country will leave work between 10pm on Monday and 7am the next day.

The Service and Food Workers Union has been negotiating a two per cent pay increase with IHC on its members' behalf since October last year, but those members are instead being offered a 12-month pay freeze.

SFWU national secretary John Ryall yesterday said the decision to ban sleepover shifts was not easy to make, but was the only way to bring IHC to its senses in realising the welfare of its staff was critical to the support provided for its clients.

IHC had received a two per cent increase in funding from the Ministry of Health in July last year and was refusing to pass any of it onto their frontline staff, he said.

"Their priorities need to change quickly if the escalation of action is to be avoided."

IHC's general manager of human resources, David Timms, said the Government's two per cent funding increase had only applied to part of IHC's service and equated to a 1.2 per cent increase across all services.

"We simply can't afford to do what the union is asking," he said.

Mr Timms was unable to say how many of about 30 homes in Taranaki would be affected by the strike, but said the safety of service users was the priority in managing any industrial action.

"What we are hearing is that most staff will work their shifts anyway.

"They are people who care about their jobs and the safety of the service users."

The decision to walk off the job was not one staff would make lightly, he said.

"Anyone who's worked these shifts will know this is a pretty serious move."

- © Fairfax NZ News