New pay offer to nurses is 'insulting'

Meetings took place between representatives of the four nursing unions, representing the Agenda for Change pay group, and the Policy & Resources Committee on Monday.

But while P&R described the talks as constructive and hoped the revised offer would receive a positive response.

'After 5 months of asking, we were delighted to finally get some meaningful talks arranged,' said RCN convenor Kenny Lloyd.

'The talking has been less than meaningful though and the offer is not only divisive it is insulting.

The new offer is for a 5% increase from 1 January this year for a one-year period; a 5% increase for bands 1-7 from 1 January 2020 for one year and a 3% rise for all pay scales above band seven from 1 January next year, also lasting for a year.

'Our members will see through this and within minutes of sharing the news on social media they were calling it out for splitting the higher pay bands by giving them a lesser uplift than the lower bands,' said Mr Lloyd.

'After all of their efforts this is frankly insulting and I am disappointed that we can’t go back to our members with something more positive.

'I have been involved in pay negotiations for 15 years and the talks were cynical and patronising.

'There has been no attempt by P&R to listen to our members or to change their position. They have grossly under-estimated nurses on Guernsey with this offer.

'We will of course put this to our members in a ballot and it will be up to them as to whether we accept or reject the offer. This ballot will inform our next steps.'

• The RCN holds its AGM tomorrow.