NEWS
Union to ballot members on pay to end ‘hand to mouth’ existence Unison will ballot members over industrial action in protest at health secretary Jeremy Hunt’s decision to deny 70 per cent of nurses a 1 per cent cost of living pay rise. Nurses and other health workers at the union’s annual health conference in Brighton voted overwhelmingly in support of an emergency motion to fight back against Mr Hunt’s pay deal, announced last month. Mr Hunt said that only NHS workers at the top of their pay band will get a 1 per cent pay rise. Urging members to back a ballot on industrial action, Unison head of health Christina McAnea said many members had been left living a ‘hand to mouth’ existence, unable to pay their bills. ‘This motion sets out a strategy to campaign, to agitate and to fight for fair pay,’ she said. ‘Our members strike neither easily nor often, but this time it really does feel as if we have been left with no choice,’ she added. ‘We are not asking them to ballot for 1 per cent. We are saying we should strike for a pay award that starts to redress the cut in the value of pay since
BARNEY NEWMAN
By Sally Gillen
Voting at the Unison conference
2010. We need to strike for a living wage for all. But, above all, we are saying strike because a demotivated and demoralised workforce is not good for patients.’ In a 90-minute debate, health worker after health worker spoke of their financial struggle since 2010, following two years of pay freezes and then a 1 per cent rise. Mark McSheehy, a nursing assistant and single parent from Devon, won a standing ovation after he spoke about his struggle to feed his 12-year-old daughter and how he had borrowed money from a payday loan company.
But some speakers, including John Roche, a donor relations assistant at NHS Blood and Transplant in the West Midlands, said his members would not support strikes. ‘I never thought I would speak against this motion, but I have consulted my membership and they do not want to strike. They are angry, but they do not want to strike.’ Ms McAnea said: ‘I do not underestimate how difficult the ballot will be. I know that, as well as being incredibly angry, members are reluctant or nervous about taking industrial action. Let us turn that anger into action and get a good yes vote.’ She added that the ballot on industrial action would include strike and other action, which could involve working to contract. More detailed discussions will follow across the regions and devolved nations on what action would be taken and when. The campaign will start with a protest day on June 5. ‘Let’s make this a day that all unions can be part of,’ added Ms McAnea. More than two thousand nurses have signed Nursing Standard’s petition urging Jeremy Hunt to reconsider his pay decision. Click here to sign our online petition
CAMPAIGN LAUNCHED TO PREVENT HIKE IN NMC REGISTRATION FEES Unison is preparing to ask the UK’s four governments to intervene and prevent the Nursing and Midwifery Council from raising its annual registration fee by 20 per cent. The request will form part of a UK-wide campaign against a fee rise of £20 to £120 from February 2015, after health workers backed an emergency motion to oppose the increase at the union’s health conference. The union will
also seek meetings with the UK’s four chief nursing officers. This follows a decision by the NMC, made at its council meeting in March, to consult from next month on an increase. Last month NMC chief executive Jackie Smith said that the regulator had no choice but to increase fees because of the soaring costs of fitness to practise (FtP) hearings, a claim she repeated during a fringe meeting at the conference. ‘We
know this is a difficult time for nurses, but we have no choice,’ she told the audience, adding that 77 per cent of the NMC’s income was spent on FtP cases. But Unison head of nursing Gail Adams said that the level of spend on FtP was unsustainable. She said employers were risk-averse in the wake of the Francis report and quick to refer nurses. They need guidelines so they know when they need to refer to the NMC, she said.
8 april 23 :: vol 28 34 :: 2014 STANDARD Downloaded fromnoRCNi.com by ${individualUser.displayName} on Nov 22, 2015. For personal use only. NoNURSING other uses without permission. Copyright © 2015 RCNi Ltd. All rights reserved.
Union to ballot members on pay to end ‘hand to mouth’ existence Unison will ballot members over industrial action in protest at health secretary Jeremy Hunt’s decision to deny 70 per cent of nurses a 1 per cent cost of living pay rise. Nurses and other health workers at the union’s annual health conference in Brighton voted overwhelmingly in support of an emergency motion to fight back against Mr Hunt’s pay deal, announced last month. Mr Hunt said that only NHS workers at the top of their pay band will get a 1 per cent pay rise. Urging members to back a ballot on industrial action, Unison head of health Christina McAnea said many members had been left living a ‘hand to mouth’ existence, unable to pay their bills. ‘This motion sets out a strategy to campaign, to agitate and to fight for fair pay,’ she said. ‘Our members strike neither easily nor often, but this time it really does feel as if we have been left with no choice,’ she added. ‘We are not asking them to ballot for 1 per cent. We are saying we should strike for a pay award that starts to redress the cut in the value of pay since
BARNEY NEWMAN
By Sally Gillen
Voting at the Unison conference
2010. We need to strike for a living wage for all. But, above all, we are saying strike because a demotivated and demoralised workforce is not good for patients.’ In a 90-minute debate, health worker after health worker spoke of their financial struggle since 2010, following two years of pay freezes and then a 1 per cent rise. Mark McSheehy, a nursing assistant and single parent from Devon, won a standing ovation after he spoke about his struggle to feed his 12-year-old daughter and how he had borrowed money from a payday loan company.
But some speakers, including John Roche, a donor relations assistant at NHS Blood and Transplant in the West Midlands, said his members would not support strikes. ‘I never thought I would speak against this motion, but I have consulted my membership and they do not want to strike. They are angry, but they do not want to strike.’ Ms McAnea said: ‘I do not underestimate how difficult the ballot will be. I know that, as well as being incredibly angry, members are reluctant or nervous about taking industrial action. Let us turn that anger into action and get a good yes vote.’ She added that the ballot on industrial action would include strike and other action, which could involve working to contract. More detailed discussions will follow across the regions and devolved nations on what action would be taken and when. The campaign will start with a protest day on June 5. ‘Let’s make this a day that all unions can be part of,’ added Ms McAnea. More than two thousand nurses have signed Nursing Standard’s petition urging Jeremy Hunt to reconsider his pay decision. Click here to sign our online petition
CAMPAIGN LAUNCHED TO PREVENT HIKE IN NMC REGISTRATION FEES Unison is preparing to ask the UK’s four governments to intervene and prevent the Nursing and Midwifery Council from raising its annual registration fee by 20 per cent. The request will form part of a UK-wide campaign against a fee rise of £20 to £120 from February 2015, after health workers backed an emergency motion to oppose the increase at the union’s health conference. The union will
also seek meetings with the UK’s four chief nursing officers. This follows a decision by the NMC, made at its council meeting in March, to consult from next month on an increase. Last month NMC chief executive Jackie Smith said that the regulator had no choice but to increase fees because of the soaring costs of fitness to practise (FtP) hearings, a claim she repeated during a fringe meeting at the conference. ‘We
know this is a difficult time for nurses, but we have no choice,’ she told the audience, adding that 77 per cent of the NMC’s income was spent on FtP cases. But Unison head of nursing Gail Adams said that the level of spend on FtP was unsustainable. She said employers were risk-averse in the wake of the Francis report and quick to refer nurses. They need guidelines so they know when they need to refer to the NMC, she said.
8 april 23 :: vol 28 34 :: 2014 STANDARD Downloaded fromnoRCNi.com by ${individualUser.displayName} on Nov 22, 2015. For personal use only. NoNURSING other uses without permission. Copyright © 2015 RCNi Ltd. All rights reserved.
