Pay matters - so what are we doing about getting some?

Colleagues in local government have been made a final offer for this year's pay rise and apparently it's not very good. At least one UNISON branch has already decided to ask the national body responsible for leading their strategy to reject it and organise a campaign of industrial action.

Meanwhile, confusion reigns over our pay rise in the NHS. We're supposed to already have it, but while some in the media are saying an announcement is due imminently (although no-one who is waiting for the pay rise would consider the end of the month to be imminent) others are reporting that the NHS Pay Review Body hasn't even reported to the Government yet.

The chances are therefore high that this year's UNISON health conference - starting next Monday in Manchester - will take place without a pay offer on the table. It's crucial that the conference gives the Service Group Executive the clearest possible instructions regarding two things: the criteria by which any pay award must be judged (what would we accept, what would we reject) and what strategy the membership want us to adopt in response to any offer which falls short of our demands.

The East Midlands Regional Health Committee motion on this issue, motion 18 on the conference agenda, is something I hope all delegates can support. It says:

18. NHS PAY

Submitted by East Midlands Regional Health Committee

Conference notes with frustration the failure of the 2007/2008 pay round to secure members an above inflation pay rise. We note that members with great reluctance accepted the revised offer which was still below the level of the Retail Price Index (RPI).

Conference condemns the decision of the government to stage the below inflationincrease, thereby further reducing the valueof the award to our members in England. That this decision created pay differences within the NHS across the four countries of the UK is a great concern and is not acceptable to UNISON.

We congratulate UNISON’s negotiators insecuring an element of flat rate increase for the lowest paid NHS staff, even though the overall increase meant that staff suffered a drop in the value of their earnings.

Conference calls upon the Service Group Executive to campaign actively in support of UNISON’s evidence submitted to the Pay Review Body in future years. We strongly support the evidence presented by UNISON to the Pay Review Body for an above inflation pay increase and a flat rate element for bands 1 - 3 for the 2008-2009 pay round.

Noting the decision of the government to vary the terms of the PRB recommendation in 2007, conference believes that UNISON must reserve for itself the right to demand that the government varies the terms of future PRB recommendations when and if those recommendations fail to deliver on our objectives to eliminate low pay in the NHS and see real terms pay increases for NHS staff.

Conference notes that at the date of submission of motions for Health Conference, UNISON and other unions were in negotiations at the NHS Staff Council around a range of issues including pay structure and terms & conditions. In the event that these negotiations do not reach a successful conclusion, conference calls upon the SGE to ensure that UNISON’s negotiators pursue the following objectives in advance of submissions to the Pay Review Body for 2009/2010:

i. improvements to the pay structure including action to raise the lowest rates of pay in the NHS, and a reduction in the number of pay points in each band to a maximum of five points;

ii. further opportunity for pay progression for all staff;

iii. a progressive reduction in the standard working week to 35 hours;

iv. a national Trade Union Facilities agreement to be included in the Handbook;

v. a start on the review of on-call arrangements and an extension of the four year protection period of current arrangements pending the review;

vi. an extension of the AfC agreement to all staff transferring to, or employed by, new service providers; and

vii. action to ensure completion of the roll out of the Framework Agreement for Agenda for Change to all staff delivering soft Facilities Management (FM) services, and its extension to hard FM.

Notwithstanding the decision to set pay in future years for all NHS staff through the PRB methodology, conference resolves that campaigning on pay in the NHS must remain a priority.

Conference believes that the NHS pay timetable in 2007 was too slow, and the delays served the government’s agenda more than the needs of our members. Campaigning on NHS pay in future years must be more effective, and more rapid.

Conference therefore instructs the Service Group Executive that in the event of future years’ pay determinations failing to meet our objectives they will pursue the campaign more rapidly, ensuring that any subsequent ballot for industrial action takes place no later than June of the relevant year.

Conference further agrees that UNISON should argue for a substantial pay increase in the 2009/2010 pay round. ‘Substantial’ to be defined as significantly above the rate of inflation as defined by the Retail Price Index (RPI). Conference also agrees that UNISON should continue to argue for any pay award to include a flat rate element for Band 3 and below.