Soldiers’ wives to protest outside TD offices
Wives & Partners of the Defence Forces (WPDF) have already lobbied a number of TDs in pursuit of better pay and conditions.
It expects in the next six weeks to mount protests as it ratchets up the campaign.
A WPDF spokeswoman referred to a litany of examples of very poor pay among Defence Forces members, so much so that a significant number of soldiers, sailors and airmen have to get family income support (FIS) to make ends meet.
The group has set up a Facebook page for its members and many have posted about dire conditions being endured by spouses.
One woman posted: “My husband is in the army the past 15 years. We have four young kids and we have to rely on Family Income Supplement to survive as what he gets paid does not cover us.
“We struggle every week, once the bills are paid we are left with nothing. We never go out or anywhere for fear of being in debt.”
Another said: “No person who volunteers to serve their country should be allowed to have wages so poor that they need social welfare support.”
There are examples of Defence Forces personnel taking sick days because they cannot afford the petrol to drive to work.
There are also claims some men slept in cars overnight in or near barracks because they cannot afford the fuel to travel home.
The campaign group say morale is very low across the Defence Forces and also insist it is little wonder tso many were quitting their jobs.
The WPDF spokeswoman said they were also very concerned about continuing delays in paying an agreed higher allowance to Naval Service personnel who have worked on migrant rescue operations in the Mediterranean Sea.
PDforra, the association which represents enlisted members of the Defence Forces, secured increased allowance at an arbitration meeting on November 11 last for sailors on armed duty.
The Department of Defence was only prepared to pay an unarmed allowance.
However, images from rescue scenes showed several of the sailors armed with Steyr rifles and machine guns due to potential security threats from Islamic militants operating in the Libyan coastal area.
The extra payment amounts to about €1,300 after tax for each sailor and it was hoped it would be paid before Christmas.
A number of weeks ago, the minister with responsibility for defence, Paul Kehoe, promised to try and speed up the payment but there has been no progress to date.
WPDF said the delay was unacceptable, especially as some young crew members worked so many hours on rescue missions they were only being paid the equivalent of €4.35 an hour, well below the minimum wage.
WPDF are also lobbying for PDFORRA to be given full union recognition.
