Our last best hope in nurses' pay dispute

When a dangerous situation looks hopeless and bleak, there's only one thing to do: put together a panel of experts.

A panel of mediators is now expected to present a compromise proposal by the start of next week aimed at averting the planned resignations of nearly 13,000 nurses scheduled for November 19.

To prepare for the event, the Union of Health and Social Care Professionals (Tehy) and the Commission for Local Authority Employers (KTL) have taken turns suing each other. Last Wednesday the municipal employees had a go:

KTL said in a statement Wednesday that Tehy's industrial action was illegal as it violated the commitment to labour market harmony.

Today the nurses' union struck back:

The union said the confirmation letters sent by KTL to the people on Tehy's resignation lists and the employers' move to declare their posts vacant constituted unlawful attempts to undermine the basis of the industrial action.

Both cases seem rather odd to me. If you want to resign, how could you be prevented by law from doing so? Conversely, if you resign, how on earth could your former employer be prevented by law from hiring someone to replace you?