Health Unions Reviewing Proposed Pay Deal

Health Minister Mike Nesbitt has presented a pay proposal intended to prevent industrial action by unions. According to BBC News NI, union representatives are presently reviewing a pay award that would be backdated to this August. On Monday, Mr. Nesbitt stated that the most recent funding provided by the executive would prevent him from aligning with pay agreements reached in other areas of the UK. Following discussions with Nipsa, Unite, and Unison, the minister reported that the conversations had been constructive. “I put the plan to them and they accepted it as a serious proposal, but it is one they need to go away and think about and consult upon,” he said. “Equally, they have given challenges to me that I need to take to executive colleagues, beginning with the first and the deputy first minister, and I will do that at pace.” “What we are in now is a process. I think now everyone recognises that the resolution to this will require an all-executive approach, and that is to all public sector pay, not just health,” Carmel Gates of NIPSA indicated that her union would not disclose specifics from a Thursday meeting involving unions and the health minister, but confirmed intentions to consult members regarding a potential strike. Speaking on BBC’s The View programme, Ms Gates, said: “We are beginning discussions with members tomorrow to prepare for action because unless the offer that is coming to us is at least parity with colleagues in Britain, then it is not going to be good enough.” Rita Devlin of the Royal College of Nursing stated: “We are in a better place than we were yesterday, but we’re not there yet.” “I would not be recommending it to my members at this time.” She mentioned that although no one desired to engage in industrial action, “every single year we fight for crumbs off the table to try to make sure that our members get the money that they deserve”. The BMA reported that in July this year, the Doctors’ and Dentists’ Pay Review Body (DDRB) had advised a 6% increase for all doctors, which had already been implemented across the rest of the UK. Dr Alan Stout, chair of its Northern Ireland council, stated that the minister had informed the BMA he was unable to grant the complete pay award. “On behalf of all doctors in Northern Ireland, I made it clear this was totally unacceptable,” Dr Stout said. “I will now meet with the chairs of all the BMA branch of committees in Northern Ireland to seek their views on how to proceed. “The scale of anger and outrage I have been hearing over the course of the last week is unprecedented. Doctors here are totally disillusioned with the Department of Health and its attitude towards doctors’ pay.” By Aileen Moynagh, BBC News NI health reporter. Neither the health minister nor the majority of health unions chose to comment on the specifics of this morning’s pay discussion. However, BBC News NI has learned that Mike Nesbitt’s proposal would re-establish pay parity with England and Wales, though not complete pay parity. This interim offer implies that health workers’ pay would be backdated to August, rather than April as in England and Wales, at this current point. It is understood that Mr. Nesbitt has pledged to collaborate with the Northern Ireland Executive to secure funds to close the gap, with the objective of fully restoring pay parity if feasible. Discussions and negotiations are ongoing. Previously, First Minister Michelle O’Neill stated that a winter characterized by strike action from various unions in Northern Ireland regarding pay is “not inevitable”. On Wednesday, teacher unions announced their intention to also ballot their members concerning strike action. Ms. O’Neill expressed her hope for a “positive resolution”. “We also have been faced with the fact they’ve settled pay in England but not here, we’ve allocated 57% of the budget this week to health,” she added. Ms. O’Neill reported that she and Deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly had met with the health minister on Wednesday night, prior to his meetings with the unions. Ms. Little-Pengelly stated that the executive was obligated to “work within the budget” it possessed. “A certain amount of funding has to go towards funding those frontline services, that is a finite amount of money,” she said. “The executive will be doing their best that is our promise.” Ms. O’Neill described the situation as “challenging” and affirmed that the executive wishes to avoid workers going on strike. “We will work to find solutions. I don’t think anything’s inevitable, we will work night and day to make sure we can get a positive resolution.” Copyright 2024 BBC. All rights reserved. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read about our approach to external linking.