Unison Glasgow Clyde & CVS Branch 

Online ballot now open – closes 14 August

UNISON members working in NHS Scotland, or for contractors who are covered by the two tier workforce agreement, who have received a personalised email, should vote using the link provided in that email. The link is personal to each member and should not be shared or used by anyone else.

UNISON members who work in NHS Scotland, who have not received a personalised email can vote here or call UNISON Direct on 0800 0857 857.

UNISON, Scotland’s largest health union, has today (Monday, June 25) agreed to recommend that members accept a pay deal which is worth at least 9% for NHS workers across Scotland over three years.

The union, which represents 60,000 health workers who are covered by the NHS Agenda for Change agreement will now ballot members recommending acceptance of the deal, which was negotiated in Scotland between unions, employers and the Scottish government.

The main elements of the deal are:

All NHS Scotland staff earning under £80,000 to receive a 3% pay increase backdated to April 1, 2018, with a payment of £1600 for staff earning more than £80,000

The top of all pay scales to rise by 9% over the lifetime of the three-year deal (including 2018) or £1600 per annum for scales above £80,000

Larger increments and faster progression for staff in post, but not yet at the top of their pay band – worth between 11.3% and 27.7%

Removal of band overlaps to ensure promotion comes with a proper pay rise and to lessen the risk of equal pay challenges

Big improvements in starting salaries to help the NHS attract and retain new staff

Applies to all NHS contractor staff

UNISON Scotland’s health committee met today (Monday, June 25) to review the offer and agreed to recommend acceptance on the basis that it is the best deal that can be achieved by negotiation. All UNISON members working for the NHS in Scotland will have their chance to vote on the new three-year pay offer and changes to the NHS pay structure in an electronic ballot which will run from July 16 and close on August 14. The union will use the period in between to ensure that members have as much information as they need to make their decision on pay.

Overall, the deal will see an extra £410m invested in NHS Scotland pay over three years.It is funded by money released by the UK Government as part of the Barnett Funding Formula so it won’t cost jobs or patient care.

Other details within the deal include:

• Commitment to ensuring that NHS Scotland’s salaries remain higher than those in other parts of the UK

• The removal of pay band overlaps (by deleting the lowest pay bands) by 2020-21,

• The value of bands 1-8c will increase by 9% (cumulatively) from 2018/19 to 2020/21

• The value of bands 8d and 9 will increase by £1600 p.a.

• By 2021 a new pay structure which means that staff will progress more quickly from the starting salary to the rate for the job

There are also commitments to look at some policy issues during the period of the pay including :

Managing sickness absence

Utilisation and application of TOIL

Appraisal and incremental progression

Organisational Change Protection

Chair of the Scottish Health Committee and NHS porter Tam Waterson said:

“UNISON has led the way on NHS Pay in Scotland, campaigning and lobbying around our Scrap the Cap and Pay Up Now Campaigns. This is not a perfect deal and it does not go the full way to recovering the losses incurred by health workers during more than a decade of austerity and pay cuts. But it does put money in members’ pockets now and means that many will reach the agreed rate for the job faster than they would have done without the current pay arrangements. UNISON is Scotland’s largest health union and is leading the way in recommending this deal, which is the best that can be achieved by negotiation, to our members working in Scotland’s NHS.”