NI Health: Unions withhold evidence to Pay Review Body

In December, the unions staged a 24-hour strike in a dispute over pay

Two of the biggest health unions in Northern Ireland say they will not be giving evidence to a Pay Review Body.

The body will visit the Northern Health Trust on Thursday.

Unison and Nipsa usually give evidence on staff morale, cost-of-living issues, retention and recruitment, and equal pay issues.

The Pay Review Body then recommends to the government what size the annual increase should be, usually in April.

Any pay rise is normally implemented from August.

• Industrial action by health workers in NI begins

• Health workers on 24-hour strike in pay dispute

• Review body recommends £1,400 pay rise

Instead of attending the evidence-gathering session, the unions are holding a protest at Antrim Area Hospital.

In a statement, they say they "question why we should continue to engage with a body whose independence appears to be in name only", and have called for direct negotiations.

Chairperson of Unison in Northern Ireland Stephanie Greenwood said members were willing to engage in talks with political representatives at Stormont or Westminster but had been uninspired by the lack of action to date.

"We have engaged for the last 20-odd years and in return for that our members have received pay freezes, below-inflation pay rates," she told BBC's Good Morning Ulster programme.

She said the current pressures facing staff in hospitals and emergency departments should make the need for a pay rise obvious.

Ms Greenwood said members were protesting against the effectiveness of the body, adding a pay rise recommended in 2021/2022 had still not been implemented.

What is a pay review body?

The salaries of NHS staff, as well as other public-sector workers such as police officers, teachers and the members of the armed forces, are recommended by eight pay review bodies.

They cover 2.5 million workers - about 45% of public-sector staff - and a pay bill of around £100 billion.

The PRBs are made up of economists and experts on human resources, with experience in both the public and private sector and are appointed by the relevant government department.

• Are pay review bodies completely independent?

There is currently a wave of strike action over pay, including by nurses and ambulance workers.

Last month, nurses across Northern Ireland joined colleagues in England and Wales in the largest NHS strike in its history.

A pay uplift was announced by Stormont's Department of Health in December after a recommendation by an independent review body earlier last year.

Doctors and dentists in Northern Ireland will get a 4.5% uplift with other health service staff getting an additional £1,400 a year, backdated to April 2022.

That is a below-inflation increase for most workers.

At that time, Anne Speed from the union Unison said the uplift would not settle the pay dispute because inflation was at 11%.

"Without protection against inflation pay workers essentially suffer a pay cut," she said.

"We know that Department of Health officials listened carefully during the many times we challenged the breaking of pay parity but they, and we, know now that even with this adjustment our members will continue to feel real financial pressure," she added.