Union News
Union round up for 2007
2007 has been a challenging year for
unions nationally.
The main highlights are:
Pay
The national pay rise of 2.5% was reluctantly agreed to
by unions.
There was great discontent that the pay rise was staged
(1.5% from April 2007 and the other 1% from November 2007)
especially, as NHS staff in Scotland, Wales and Northern
Ireland received their pay rise in full.
There are some additional monies for staff on lower bands.
The detail is complicated but this is how much this improved
offer is worth. For staff at the bottom of Band 1 it's worth
£44 this year, Top Band 1 £33, Top Band 2 to Band 4 it's
worth £16 and for staff in Bands 5 to 8a who need clinical
registration, it's worth £9.50 (because the £38 covers the
next 4 years).
Meetings are currently being held with the Pay Review Body
in preparation for the 2008 pay negotiations. The
negotiations are likely to be difficult as the government
continues with it’s policy of pay restraint. October’s
pre-Budget report from the Chancellor committed the Treasury
to “public pay settlements consistent with the government’s
inflation targets of 2%”
Pensions
A new national pension scheme has been agreed to.
We still have a final pension scheme with the same
retirement age of 60 for existing members. New entrants will
have a retirement age of 65. There will be equal survivor
benefits for partners as well as widow/ers and children.
These benefits will be backdated for eligible claimants to
1988.
To find out more about your rights, follow the link below.
http://www.nhspa.gov.uk/site/index.cfm
Ill Health Retirement
A 3 month consultation was launched in October on joint
NHS employers and union proposals
for managing sickness absence and ill health retirement
in England and Wales.
The consultation will finish on 21st January 2008.
To find out more and comment on the proposals you should
follow the link below
http://www.nhsemployers.org/pay-conditions/pay-conditions-502.cfm?frmAlias=/illhealthreview/
Mileage allowance
After a long wait there has finally been some movement on
the question of mileage allowance.
Negotiations are currently underway but in the meantime
interim arrangements have come into place from January 2008.
These arrangements are summarised on the NHS employers web
page
http://www.nhsemployers.org/pay-conditions/pay-conditions-3179.cfm
Local activity
Agenda for Change
The majority of reviews have been carried out now so the
next stage of activity is to band all the posts that came
into being since October 2004. If you have any queries about
this then you can contact the HR department or your union
rep.
Most people are being correctly paid by the new payroll
provider but issues continue to pop up where people’s pay is
incorrect. If you think that your pay is wrong then call the
help desk as a first course of action. If you feel that your
problems are not being resolved then contact HR or your
union rep.
