Guernsey Press

Nurses hit out at pay disparity

The Royal College Of Nursing claim there is a 'shocking disparity' in pay between nurses and other civil servants on Guernsey.

Published
RCN convener Kenny Lloyd. (26409186)

They are locked in a dispute with the States having rejected a pay offer that would have seen a 5% increase this year and another 5% next for most nurses.

Kenny Lloyd, RCN Convenor, says: 'We knew there were differences; it wasn’t until we put these down on paper we realised quite how stark they were. To be crystal clear – we are not saying these people are overpaid, far from it – the jobs they do are invaluable, we are saying that in comparison nurses are grossly underpaid.

'In order to be a nurse you have to have a degree. Coupled with the long and sometimes unpredictable shifts, over night travel [for nurses that accompany patients to the mainland] nursing is about as far from a 9-5 as you can imagine. Unlike on the mainland, there are no junior doctors on Guernsey so the nursing responsibility around the clock is immense.

Pay comparisons released by the Royal College of Nursing (26409337)

'The examples were taken from the States’ employment website and matched to the nearest equivalent nursing band. We revisited the job comparisons after first doing it in 2011 and it shows that today a traffic warden could earn between £6,708-£7,174 more than a Band 3 support worker working in the adult disability services. A policy and legislation officer, a job that, according to the advert, requires no formal qualifications could earn nearly £18,000 more than a registered nurse. It is these disparities that have made our members so frustrated and why the States needs to urgently address our concerns.'

The RCN is in the process of requesting an Industrial Action ballot from its governing body.

The rejected pay offer was 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