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	Staff at Childminding Ireland are set to begin indefinite strike action from next month unless management withdraws compulsory redundancy notices, according to trade union representatives.</p>
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	The Impact union is also calling on management at the organisation to engage with staff over proposed restructuring plans.</p>
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	Five of the six staff at Childminding Ireland were issued with individual redundancy notices approximately six weeks ago, even though Impact says the State-funded body &ldquo;is not experiencing financial difficulties and has produced no business plan to justify redundancies&rdquo;.</p>
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	In a statement last night, Bernadette Burke, Childminding Ireland CEO, said they were &ldquo;undergoing a restructuring&rdquo; and that all staff have been invited to apply for roles in the new structure.</p>
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	However the total number of new posts &ldquo;is less than the current staffing numbers, so unfortunately there will be some redundancies&rdquo;.</p>
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	Ms Burke said Childminding &ldquo;remains committed to resolving this dispute through agreement if possible&rdquo;.</p>
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	Impact official Barry Cunningham said the union believes Childminding Ireland is illegally threatening redundancies to force staff out of their jobs before replacing them with others.</p>
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	He said while management claims the staff will be able to apply for &ldquo;as-yet-unspecified&rdquo; new roles in a restructured organisation, the union believes the new roles will be constructed to exclude them.</p>
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	&ldquo;Childminding Ireland is a representative body, not a childcare provider. Yet it has indicated that it will, in future, insist that administrative, communications, and accounts staff have childcare qualifications,&rdquo; said Mr Cunningham.</p>
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	&ldquo;There is no objective reason for this. The real rationale is simply to get rid of the well-qualified and loyal staff they currently have.&rdquo;</p>
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	Impact has issued Childminding Ireland with notice that the industrial action will commence on June 7.</p>
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	It says this allows management a final opportunity to resolve the issue through negotiations in the Workplace Relations Commission.</p>
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	(Published by the Irish Examiner on the 24th May 2016)</p>
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	<a href="http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/childminding-ireland-staff-to-strike-over-redundancies-401222.html">http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/childminding-ireland-staff-to-strike-over-redundancies-401222.html</a></p>
