Pay - delay is unhealthy

I’ve been complaining here about local government pay even since before we were offered less than two and a half per cent.

But health workers are, if anything, in an even worse position.

The local government employers may have made an offer too late – but at least it is an “offer” which we can reject – and least they have made it so we can decide how to respond.

Pay in the National Health Service is set following recommendations from the Pay Review Body and, although the settlement date is 1 April, as Service Group Executive member Nick Holden reports, there’s no sign of any recommendation.

Should the review body recommend an increase below inflation (that’s the Retail Price Index – RPI – real price inflation of course) there may well be a debate between those who think it is important to defend the “integrity” of the pay review process and those who think it is important that our members living standards should not be driven down.

That debate can’t easily start while no recommendation has even been made. I think members are more interested in the outcome, rather than the process, of settling pay increases – and that we could have an unprecedented opportunity for unity between health and local government workers.

We could be taking action in unison.

Will we?