This is a UNISON NI consultation with our members.
Following a report back from recent meetings with the Health Minister and Department of Health Workforce Directorate officials, your Health Committee wants to hear from you.
Thousands of nurses, health care assistants, ambulance workers, hotel services workers, domiciliary care workers, cleaners, cooks, admin staff and more are appalled at the derisory pay recommendation by the Pay Review Body. Your Health Committee has already delivered this message to the Minister and the Department of Health.
Without an opportunity for collective bargaining denied by the Westminster Government on Agenda for Change Pay for NHS staff, all health unions were left with a recommendation from the Pay Review Body of 3%. This falls short of the UNISON claim of ONE Team 2k. No Westminster funding was released to support the payment of this recommendation. All parts of the NHS have had to find this money from within their own resources.
Our 2019 pay dispute re-established pay parity with England. Our Health Minister announced he would pay this 3% to maintain pay parity.
Health unions have pushed for an enhancement to the 3% but have been told that any consideration of additional money would have to wait until the January monitoring round. There are no guarantees we will get anything.
A below inflation pay uplift will not protect our members against rising costs. And we are facing an increase in National Insurance contributions in April.
This is an important opportunity to add your voice loud and clear. We need a strong mandate from you into the New Year to challenge - using legal industrial action when required - not only on your pay but also on safe staffing and the crippling overspend on the use of agencies to plug holes in the health staff workforce.
We have demanded to meet with the Department of Health and the Health Minister early in the New Year. Fixing all these problems is a responsibility for the whole Executive. We will be delivering the strong message we hope you send us and will push hard for some big steps to be taken on all these issues.
To respond to the consultation members will either receive an email with a link to an online consultation reply form, or will receive a reply form by post. Members can contact their branch and provide an email address and you can find your branch using Branch Finder. It is very important to keep your contact details up to date. The most important information we need is your employer, email address and phone number.
Please remember to check your junk mail for emails.
Not yet a member but want to have your say?
If you are employed by the HSC and join by January 4th you can take part in the consultation.