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Prospect and RCM still to agree

Prospect and RCM still to agree

Thursday 16 March 2023

Prospect and RCM still to agree

Thursday 16 March 2023


The "nurses pay dispute" may be close to being resolved, but midwives, scientists, engineers, and other critical health workers are still to agree their wages for last year, this year, and next year.

The focus on "nurses pay" has dominated media coverage of all health workers' pay negotiations since local members of the Royal College of Nursing staged campaigns against what they called their "potato peel pay" in 2019.

The early days of campaigning included a march through St Peter Port, supported by many including registered nurses, other health workers and other people. 

That march, almost four years ago, led to a groundswell of support for nurses with a number of candidates ahead of the island's 2020 general election pledging to be 'Nurses' Champions' supporting their calls for better pay and conditions. 

The nurses pay award was granted, without the unions agreement, in 2020 as the island faced the covid pandemic.

nurses pay protest march

Pictured: September 2019 saw nurses, and their supporters, march for better pay and conditions. 

The nurses appear to have recently been satisfied by their outstanding pay offer for 2022-24, with the RCN accepting the three-year deal, along with Unite the Union.

Express was told earlier this year that "frustrated nurses" were trying to force their union to rethink opposition to the offer.

Local members of the RCN, unhappy they had not had the pay rise which they personally supported, were worried their union had been pushing them toward strike action.

A petition the members circulated forced the RCN to reopen a survey of members to help find out if there is a majority in favour of accepting what the States has offered. It's believed that survey then led the RCN into accepting the offer.

Screenshot_2023-03-15_at_17.50.57.png

Pictured: Over the past month the RCN has changed its mind and accepted the pay offer on behalf of its members. 

Unite represents public, private, and voluntary sector workers across manufacturing, transport, food, finance and construction. Its local members have also accepted the pay offer which covers 2022-24.

The offer is now coupled with a pay parity review which will take up to a year examining what is meant by pay parity and establishing if it can be achieved, if it is desirable and what a feasible result would be.

The ball is now in the court of the RCM and Prospect unions - with both surveying members on the pay offer with the added pay parity review.

If those two unions also agree then all four unions representing the Agenda for Change workers will be included in the pay parity review.

That would mean that nurses and midwives, along with scientists, engineers, catering staff, cleaners and other critical health care and auxiliary workers would all be covered by any advances in pay parity. 

Read more...

Frustrated nurses force their union to rethink opposition to pay offer

Nurses threaten industrial action

20 new deputies will 'champion' nurses' calls for action

Nurses offered 5% now as part of three-year pay deal

"Goodwill of nurses being stretched to breaking point"

How exactly would nurses go on strike?


 

 

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