Nurse pay deal now looking more likely

Tuesday 11 February 2020

Everyone involved in the nurses pay dispute has agreed to get back around the table and continue talking.

All four unions involved in the Agenda for Change campaign along with the States have agreed to further to talks to try and resolve the current pay disagreement.

A letter signed by the States, the RCN, the Royal College of Midwives, Unite the Union and Prospect was sent out to union members and other staff yesterday.

It said: "The RCN, RCM, Unite and Prospect who represent staff employed on Agenda for Change terms and conditions, along with the SoG as employer, have agreed to further talks to try and resolve the current dispute over pay.

"Jointly we have formally requested that the Industrial Disputes Officer provide us with more time to enable that to occur by postponing the Industrial Tribunal scheduled for 27th and 28th February 2020. The parties have agreed to use these dates for further talks and will reconsider their respective positions following these meetings."

Pictured: The signatories of the letter.

Yesterday, the RCN - one of the four unions involved in the talks - started to ballot its members on whether it should take industrial action. That is all going ahead as plans, despite talks resuming. If the vote of this balloting comes back as "yes", a strike of the union's members is likely.

The tribunal is the next stage of the industrial disputes law in Guernsey, which will see a binding resolution made by a panel after hearing evidence. The tribunal could, for example, set a pay rise that the States will have to adhere too, and the unions will have to accept.

The Industrial Disputes Officer confirmed this was the case in a statement, and said this had happened despite the fact that plans for the tribunal had nearly been finished: "the registered dispute remains active and in the event progress is not made, then arrangements for a Tribunal hearing will be concluded without any delay."

The letter to union members concluded: "All parties remain cautiously optimistic that constructive progress can be made."

Pictured top: The four nursing unions and the States have agreed to sit back down to try and hash things out.