Hospitals face significant disruption at the end of this month when the country’s three largest trade unions intend to begin a campaign of industrial action.

Substantial votes for industrial action, up to and including strike, have been announced by public sector members of the three unions in pursuit of a new national pay deal

Fórsa and Siptu, who between them have tens of thousands of healthcare workers across a wide range of roles in frontline and support services, as well as the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO), which has about 47,000 members, have all now said they will take action on September 30th.

The leaders of the three unions are due to meet on Friday as part of the committee of the Public Services Committee of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions. The intention is to develop co-ordinated plans for the action at that meeting.

Speaking on Friday, as Siptu confirmed it has served notice on the HSE regarding its intention to take action, the head of its health division, Kevin Figgis, flagged September 30th as “a day of action” at 30 hospitals countrywide, which would be followed by others in the event that progress was not made on pay talks.

The action will consist of a work-to-rule with unionised staff performing their rostered duties but refusing to take on any other work, cover for colleagues or undertake any unplanned overtime. All three unions have said that if progress is not made on talks, they will consider escalating the action to strikes.

“Our members have suffered from the effects of the cost-of-living crisis the same as other workers,” said Figgis. “They deserve to have pay negotiated on their behalf by union representatives.”

In a message to members, INMO chief Phil Ní Sheaghdha said it was time for the “Government to listen to the public sector workers who are providing essential services, often on a shoestring with inadequate staffing, and pay them enough so that cost-of-living shocks are understood and catered for in any agreement.”

The Government has said its representatives are willing to engage in relation to a new deal, but there have been disagreements between the two sides over how the process should proceed.

The last national public service pay deal expired at the end of June, having provided basic increases of 9.25 per cent with larger rises for the lowest paid.

A local bargaining clause worth 1 per cent of total pay in that deal and 2 per cent in the next one, once it is agreed, was also provided for with the intention of resolving local outstanding issues. But this has been the subject of friction in many areas, with disagreements over what the money should be used for.

The Health Service Executive has been contacted for comment.