UNISON members in the NHS have voted 2 to 1 in favour of the revised pay offer secured by union negotiators in August.
The deal will put extra cash in the pockets of the lowest paid workers in the NHS. In addition, non-clinical staff will have their training budgets boosted, and clinicians will get money to put towards their training fees - though only in England, where the award is being staged.
Karen Jennings, UNISON head of health, said it was a pragmatic vote."I believe that workers in the health service deserve better - however UNISON said the revised offer was the best that could be achieved through negotiation, and the result shows that members recognised that fact."Members had been told that should they reject the deal, they should also be prepared to support industrial action.However, the union will be seeking more money next year to make up for accepting this year's below-inflation award."We will be making a strong case for a catch-up award,"
Ms Jennings said. "I don't believe health workers will accept a below-inflation pay increase for two years running."In the meantime, the union is determined to improve terms and conditions for NHS staff by making progress over issues such as a reduced working week and better training.
Talks are due to begin soon.UNISON represents 450,000 members in the NHS including nurses, paramedics, healthcare assistants, cleaners, cooks, porters, administrative staff and therapists. 68.8% voted for and 31.2% against the offer.
Thursday 13 September 2007
Wednesday 12 September 2007
STAFF BENEFIT DAY
The Trust is holding a staff benefit day on Friday 21st of September. Northumbria Healthcare UNISON will have a stall at the event. Why not visit our stall, talk to our reps and officers, get questions answered, help yourself to freebies and take part in our free draw?
Sunday 26 August 2007
PAY 2007
Northumbria Healthcare UNISON is not making any reccomendation on the new pay offer in line with national policy.
George Barron, Branch Secretary and vice-chair of UNISON's Healthcare Executive says;
“UNISON is not saying this is a great deal; it remains below inflation. But it does provide some extra money for the lower paid, for training budgets and to assist those who need professional registration. There is also agreement to enter into further talks on a possible multi-year deal, although we will consult on this separately.
It is the best that can be achieved through negotiation. If members wish to reject this final offer, then they should be prepared to take industrial action, should that be decided in a subsequent ballot.”
USE YOUR VOTE AND HAVE YOUR SAY
George Barron, Branch Secretary and vice-chair of UNISON's Healthcare Executive says;
“UNISON is not saying this is a great deal; it remains below inflation. But it does provide some extra money for the lower paid, for training budgets and to assist those who need professional registration. There is also agreement to enter into further talks on a possible multi-year deal, although we will consult on this separately.
It is the best that can be achieved through negotiation. If members wish to reject this final offer, then they should be prepared to take industrial action, should that be decided in a subsequent ballot.”
USE YOUR VOTE AND HAVE YOUR SAY
Thursday 2 August 2007
PAY 2007
I'm pretty sure that many of you will think it wasn't worth the wait,but here is the formal pay offer which has now been published.
It is quite a complex thing to work out what it exactly means forindividual pay packets. The pay points referred to in the bit on paymean that the £400 increase on salaries applies to Bands 1 and 2 and the 2.5% + £38 increase applies to bands 3 and 4.
There is a little bitof overlap which will mean the first two points of Band 5 also benefit.
Also, because the staging remains, staff won't actually get the full£400 this year, they will get 1.5% from April as before and then theywill only get 5/12ths of the rest of it as that is how much of thefinancial year is left from November 1st.
Several members of the Service Group Executive did scrap-of-paper calculations and worked out that for a person on the bottom of Band 1 (who are thepeople who will benefit the most financially from this deal) it wouldbe worth roughly the equivalent of 2.45% over this year. i.e. less than we would have received if we had succeeded in overturning the staging.
UNISON, this will now go to an individual member consultative ballot.
Ballot papers will go out starting on August 20th and theballot will close on September 13th.
It was reported that UNITE (both bits) were verylikely to just accept it, although they may be shamed into some kind of consultation if UNISON are doing it, that the GMB seemed likely to accept it and that the RCN were waiting to see the results of theirconsultation before they decided. I'm not clear what any of the otherunions have said to their lay leadership.
The position of UNISON is that this is best we could acheive through negotiations.
Some members agree, and sat this demonstrates that negotiation is not enough and we should move to an industrial actionballot.
That decision now rests with the UNISON membership.
FROM UNISON WEBSITE
(02/08/07) Union negotiators have secured a new pay offer for health workers.
UNISON will now ask all members working in the NHS whether they wish to accept the offer.
The health executive believes it is the best that can be achieved through negotiation.Should members reject the new deal, they should also be prepared to support industrial action, the executive said.
The improved offer will put extra cash in the pockets of the lowest paid workers in the NHS, no matter which country they are in. In England only, training budgets for non-clinical staff will be boosted, and clinicians will get money to put towards their registration fees.Should staff accept the offer, those in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales will get the full 2.5% increase recommended by the pay review body immediately, backdated to 1 April this year.The award will still be staged in England, with staff getting 1.5% payable from 1 April and the remaining 1% from 1 November.
The improved offer at a glance:
more money for the lowest paid. From 1 November there will be a £400 flat rate increase for those on Bands 1 and 2.
Those on Bands 3 and 4 will receive an additional £38 as well as the 2.5%. This will be payable in all 4 UK countries;
in England only, there will be additional money for staff training targeted directly at those non-clinical staff who often lose out when training budgets are cut;
also in England only, there will be £38 paid to staff on Bands 5, 6, 7 and 8(a) who are required to register to practice – this money is a contribution to their professional fees.
Full details will be available on the health pages of the UNISON website. They will also be circulated to health branches, and sent to all UNISON members in the NHS, together with ballot papers
.Ballot papers are due to be sent out on 20 August. The ballot will close on 13 September.
Nothing on the RCN, GMB,Unite(T&G) RCM, SoR,CSP, sites yet.
This on Unite(amicus):
Unite’s Head of Health, Kevin Coyne, said:
“After months of long and tough negotiations, this is a breakthrough in the pay negotiations. The new package offered by the treasury gives extra help to the low paid and for staff in England. This pay remains staged, however there is also a commitment to review future pay and conditions.
“NHS workers in England from the 1st November will now fall in line with workers in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland who received pay increases in line with the Pay Review Body's recommendation of 2.5%.
“In addition to the improved pay offer for this year, unions, employers and the government have agreed to enter into talks prior to the next pay round, to consider a multi-year deal.”
Previously the employers in England had refused to offer anymore money than the 2%, imposed by the Government, which overrode the Pay Review Body's recommendation of 2.5%.
It is quite a complex thing to work out what it exactly means forindividual pay packets. The pay points referred to in the bit on paymean that the £400 increase on salaries applies to Bands 1 and 2 and the 2.5% + £38 increase applies to bands 3 and 4.
There is a little bitof overlap which will mean the first two points of Band 5 also benefit.
Also, because the staging remains, staff won't actually get the full£400 this year, they will get 1.5% from April as before and then theywill only get 5/12ths of the rest of it as that is how much of thefinancial year is left from November 1st.
Several members of the Service Group Executive did scrap-of-paper calculations and worked out that for a person on the bottom of Band 1 (who are thepeople who will benefit the most financially from this deal) it wouldbe worth roughly the equivalent of 2.45% over this year. i.e. less than we would have received if we had succeeded in overturning the staging.
UNISON, this will now go to an individual member consultative ballot.
Ballot papers will go out starting on August 20th and theballot will close on September 13th.
It was reported that UNITE (both bits) were verylikely to just accept it, although they may be shamed into some kind of consultation if UNISON are doing it, that the GMB seemed likely to accept it and that the RCN were waiting to see the results of theirconsultation before they decided. I'm not clear what any of the otherunions have said to their lay leadership.
The position of UNISON is that this is best we could acheive through negotiations.
Some members agree, and sat this demonstrates that negotiation is not enough and we should move to an industrial actionballot.
That decision now rests with the UNISON membership.
FROM UNISON WEBSITE
(02/08/07) Union negotiators have secured a new pay offer for health workers.
UNISON will now ask all members working in the NHS whether they wish to accept the offer.
The health executive believes it is the best that can be achieved through negotiation.Should members reject the new deal, they should also be prepared to support industrial action, the executive said.
The improved offer will put extra cash in the pockets of the lowest paid workers in the NHS, no matter which country they are in. In England only, training budgets for non-clinical staff will be boosted, and clinicians will get money to put towards their registration fees.Should staff accept the offer, those in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales will get the full 2.5% increase recommended by the pay review body immediately, backdated to 1 April this year.The award will still be staged in England, with staff getting 1.5% payable from 1 April and the remaining 1% from 1 November.
The improved offer at a glance:
more money for the lowest paid. From 1 November there will be a £400 flat rate increase for those on Bands 1 and 2.
Those on Bands 3 and 4 will receive an additional £38 as well as the 2.5%. This will be payable in all 4 UK countries;
in England only, there will be additional money for staff training targeted directly at those non-clinical staff who often lose out when training budgets are cut;
also in England only, there will be £38 paid to staff on Bands 5, 6, 7 and 8(a) who are required to register to practice – this money is a contribution to their professional fees.
Full details will be available on the health pages of the UNISON website. They will also be circulated to health branches, and sent to all UNISON members in the NHS, together with ballot papers
.Ballot papers are due to be sent out on 20 August. The ballot will close on 13 September.
Nothing on the RCN, GMB,Unite(T&G) RCM, SoR,CSP, sites yet.
This on Unite(amicus):
Unite’s Head of Health, Kevin Coyne, said:
“After months of long and tough negotiations, this is a breakthrough in the pay negotiations. The new package offered by the treasury gives extra help to the low paid and for staff in England. This pay remains staged, however there is also a commitment to review future pay and conditions.
“NHS workers in England from the 1st November will now fall in line with workers in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland who received pay increases in line with the Pay Review Body's recommendation of 2.5%.
“In addition to the improved pay offer for this year, unions, employers and the government have agreed to enter into talks prior to the next pay round, to consider a multi-year deal.”
Previously the employers in England had refused to offer anymore money than the 2%, imposed by the Government, which overrode the Pay Review Body's recommendation of 2.5%.
Friday 27 July 2007
2007 PAY
Management have made a very slightly improved offer on the pay award. However, it is not being officially announced until Monday.
This means that full details are not yet available.
It is heavily rumoured that staging will still take place.
Once the announcement is made on Monday, UNISON will begin the process of balloting members on the offer.
This means that full details are not yet available.
It is heavily rumoured that staging will still take place.
Once the announcement is made on Monday, UNISON will begin the process of balloting members on the offer.
Friday 6 July 2007
2007 PAY
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 5 JULY 2007
HEALTH UNIONS IN LAST DITCH TALKS WITH NEW HEALTH SECRETARY TO AVERT STRIKE
New Health Secretary Alan Johnson has agreed to urgently reopen discussions on health workers pay, following the call for talks last week by the UK¹s largest health union, UNISON.
UNISON National Officer for Health Mike Jackson said:
³We very much welcome these last ditch talks to avert industrial action.
Living costs have risen far faster than the paltry pay offer on the table and our health workers are underpaid as it is. They simply cannot afford to accept the offer on the table as it stands.²
Earlier this year health workers were offered a miserly 2.5% pay offer. The offer was cut even further because Government and employers said it had to be staged. An increase of just 1.5% was offered from April 2007, but the final settlement of 2.5% is only due to be paid from November 2007. This effectively reduced the annual pay offer to below 2%, yet living costs have risen at more than double that figure.
Health workers ire grew in England as they learned during the last few weeks that the 2.5% pay offer in Wales and Scotland would not be staged.
UNISON has scheduled a ballot of members for industrial action due to take place in September 2007.
UNISON is the UK¹s largest health union representing 460,000 health workers.
Talks are expected to begin early next week.
HEALTH UNIONS IN LAST DITCH TALKS WITH NEW HEALTH SECRETARY TO AVERT STRIKE
New Health Secretary Alan Johnson has agreed to urgently reopen discussions on health workers pay, following the call for talks last week by the UK¹s largest health union, UNISON.
UNISON National Officer for Health Mike Jackson said:
³We very much welcome these last ditch talks to avert industrial action.
Living costs have risen far faster than the paltry pay offer on the table and our health workers are underpaid as it is. They simply cannot afford to accept the offer on the table as it stands.²
Earlier this year health workers were offered a miserly 2.5% pay offer. The offer was cut even further because Government and employers said it had to be staged. An increase of just 1.5% was offered from April 2007, but the final settlement of 2.5% is only due to be paid from November 2007. This effectively reduced the annual pay offer to below 2%, yet living costs have risen at more than double that figure.
Health workers ire grew in England as they learned during the last few weeks that the 2.5% pay offer in Wales and Scotland would not be staged.
UNISON has scheduled a ballot of members for industrial action due to take place in September 2007.
UNISON is the UK¹s largest health union representing 460,000 health workers.
Talks are expected to begin early next week.
Monday 2 July 2007
WEEKLY PAID STAFF
THERE WILL BE A MEETING OF UNISON MEMBERS WHO ARE PAID WEEKLY.
DATE: 6th July 2007
TIME: 10.00 – 11.00
PLACE: back Dining room North Tyneside GeneralHospital
To discuss managements final offer on changing to monthly pay. See offer below:
Weekly to Monthly Pay: Final Offer
It is proposed by the Trust that all staff currently on weekly pay move to a monthly pay frequency from the beginning of November 2007.
Through consultation with staff the following points have been raised as particular issues in relation to making the change:
· Difficulties in having enough finance to cover the transition period between weekly to monthly pay
· Difficulties in adjusting to making a monthly salary last a month as opposed to a weeks pay lasting one week
· Concern from some staff about taking a salary advance from the Trust in that it would be difficult to pay it back over a period of time
· Lack of confidence currently in the payroll departments ability to handle wage and salary payment
· The desire to receive a payment in recognition that this is a change to existing terms and conditions.
· A reluctance to change payment frequencies
The Trust has carefully considered the issues raised and are prepared to make the following concessions to aid the transitional period.
A salary advance of up to three weeks salary to assist with the transition. This could be paid back (without interest) over a period of up to 6 months by a monthly deduction of 1/6th of the total amount advanced. This would apply to all substantive permanent appointments would not apply to Bank staff. Arrange for independent financial advice to be available to assist staff in budgeting over a period of a month.
Offer the facility to move to fortnightly pay for up to 3 months to assist in making the change. Those who opt to move to fortnightly pay in the transitional period would be able to take a salary advance of up to 1 weeks pay repayable over a period of 3 months via a monthly deduction of 1/3rd of the amount borrowed.
Make a one off salary payment of £100 to each employee (non refundable). This would be per employee and not per assignment.
Monthly salaries will be paid on the 28th of each month (or the last banking day prior to the 28th) with the exception of December where the payment will be on the last banking day prior to the 24th of the month.
In relation to concerns over the confidence in payroll it should be noted that some of the recent issues are in connection with the difficulties in running weekly and monthly payrolls from the same system. This severely reduces the amount of payroll processing time available. Making the move to all staff being paid monthly will greatly assist in this matter and will help make payments more accurate. In relation to other contributing factors, an action plan is in place to improve processing accuracy to an acceptable level.
DATE: 6th July 2007
TIME: 10.00 – 11.00
PLACE: back Dining room North Tyneside GeneralHospital
To discuss managements final offer on changing to monthly pay. See offer below:
Weekly to Monthly Pay: Final Offer
It is proposed by the Trust that all staff currently on weekly pay move to a monthly pay frequency from the beginning of November 2007.
Through consultation with staff the following points have been raised as particular issues in relation to making the change:
· Difficulties in having enough finance to cover the transition period between weekly to monthly pay
· Difficulties in adjusting to making a monthly salary last a month as opposed to a weeks pay lasting one week
· Concern from some staff about taking a salary advance from the Trust in that it would be difficult to pay it back over a period of time
· Lack of confidence currently in the payroll departments ability to handle wage and salary payment
· The desire to receive a payment in recognition that this is a change to existing terms and conditions.
· A reluctance to change payment frequencies
The Trust has carefully considered the issues raised and are prepared to make the following concessions to aid the transitional period.
A salary advance of up to three weeks salary to assist with the transition. This could be paid back (without interest) over a period of up to 6 months by a monthly deduction of 1/6th of the total amount advanced. This would apply to all substantive permanent appointments would not apply to Bank staff. Arrange for independent financial advice to be available to assist staff in budgeting over a period of a month.
Offer the facility to move to fortnightly pay for up to 3 months to assist in making the change. Those who opt to move to fortnightly pay in the transitional period would be able to take a salary advance of up to 1 weeks pay repayable over a period of 3 months via a monthly deduction of 1/3rd of the amount borrowed.
Make a one off salary payment of £100 to each employee (non refundable). This would be per employee and not per assignment.
Monthly salaries will be paid on the 28th of each month (or the last banking day prior to the 28th) with the exception of December where the payment will be on the last banking day prior to the 24th of the month.
In relation to concerns over the confidence in payroll it should be noted that some of the recent issues are in connection with the difficulties in running weekly and monthly payrolls from the same system. This severely reduces the amount of payroll processing time available. Making the move to all staff being paid monthly will greatly assist in this matter and will help make payments more accurate. In relation to other contributing factors, an action plan is in place to improve processing accuracy to an acceptable level.
Sunday 1 July 2007
2007 Pay
Members will be receiving a national ballot paper on this years pay offer. All members should read what this pay offer will mean to them before voting. Follow this link to see what the offer will mean to you http://www.gwenthealthcare.unionweb.co.uk/view/PageView.aspx?Page=1280
Welcome
Welcome to the new blog page of Northumbria Healthcare UNISON. We aim to update regularly to keep members informed of what is happening in the Trust and the NHS.
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