Following delivery of the 2024/25 pay award at the end of March, the UNISON NI Healthcare Services Group has met to plan next steps in the 2025/26 pay campaign for health and social care workers under Agenda for Change.
UNISON has called on the UK Government to set aside the Pay Review Body process and enter into direct talks on pay, but it has yet to do so. The Pay Review Body has delivered its report and government is now required to respond. Decisions on pay are devolved in Northern Ireland to the Health Minister and the Northern Ireland Executive, but these decisions are impacted by the funding that the government at Westminster makes available for pay.
The UNISON NI Healthcare Services Group is clear that funding for a fair pay award must be secured and that the kind of delays seen in the past due to the lack of funding are unacceptable.
In the coming weeks, we will be intensifying the call on both the NI Executive and UK Government to provide the dedicated funding required to secure a decent pay award for 2025/26.
We will share further information about how to get involved in the campaign and send a clear message to both the NI Executive and UK Government that workers in Northern Ireland must not be left behind on pay.