RCN should say exactly what it wants

The union has been offered what amounts to a 10% rise for all, something that it had at one stage campaigned for, yet still says this is unacceptable.

That would be an extra £2,000 a year for the lowest paid nurses, and more than £5,000 for those on the top scale.

The Royal College of Nursing says this is about more than pay – and certainly the Royles review makes that case clear.

But publicly at least the union is not saying what it would take to stop industrial action, what change needs to happen and when, and without that it is in danger of overplaying its hand and losing the significant amount of public support it had gathered through the summer. Allied to that is the spreading of misinformation about the talks themselves – that erodes trust.

In an unusual step, Policy & Resources has gone public with its thoughts during a negotiation process. It has nothing to lose at this stage and is attempting to redress the balance.

Ensuring that nursing is an attractive proposition is not just about one round of pay talks, but deeper change, including culturally.

P&R has acknowledged more needs to be done, but its 10% deal is a good start, not the end of the road.

There is a cascade effect on the public purse that can be expected with other pay groups still holding out, all at a time when the States says that up to £40m. more will be needed annually when all staff terms and conditions are harmonised. That is money the public has to cover, especially given the States’ inability to hit its own savings targets.

The RCN in Guernsey has argued that its members are 20-40% behind civil servants’ pay and is concerned that the pay deal lasts until 2021.

If it resorts to industrial action it will do nothing to advance its cause in reaching a pay settlement if, as appears increasingly likely, the fight goes to a tribunal.

That panel would be ruling on factual arguments which have been well explored in Royles, not the amount of disruption that can be caused.