Guernsey nursing union recommends rejection of pay offer

The RCN said nurses would be worse off under the proposed pay offer

The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) is recommending staff reject the latest pay offer from the States of Guernsey.

The union, which represents most of the island's nursing staff, said the current offer was "disappointing".

Public sector staff have all been offered the same settlement: a 5% rise this year, an RPIX pay rise in 2023 and an RPIX pay rise less 1% for 2024.

The Policy and Resources Committee said it wanted to "work together to address some of the issues".

'Below inflation offer'

RCN operations manager Sarah Johnston said: "We think nurses really need to be valued much more than they are.

"The offer is poor and it's below inflation. Nurses will be worse off."

Some Prospect union members have already rejected the same offer from the committee, despite the majority of members accepting the deal.

Deputy Dave Mahoney, from the Policy and Resources Committee, said they were "pleased to see that the RCN is now balloting its members albeit 10 weeks after the employer made its offer", but it was "disappointing that the States are described as 'ignoring' the issue of pay parity".

He said: "Nurses and midwives have received a pay uplift of about 20% for the period 2018-2021, whilst other groups, such as Established Staff, were awarded 6.4% for the same period."

He added that they as employers had made it "very clear" that, after negotiations, they were "willing to engage ... to see how we can work together to address some of the issues that are important to them".

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