Earlier this month the States unveiled a plan that it said would result in nurses being given on average a 6.6 per cent rise, backdated to January.
However, Unite the Union yesterday criticised the offer, claiming the proposals were ‘overly complicated’. The organisation also accused the States of deliberately trying to make the pay deal appear ‘far more attractive than it actually is by using artificially high headline figures’.
The criticism comes after the JEP reported last month that nurses were considering industrial action over the six-year pay dispute. At the time, the Jersey Nursing Association said members were ‘despondent and struggling’ and that the failure to achieve a ‘fair pay deal’ had left staff demoralised, with some considering leaving the Island to work in the UK.
Unite has described the latest offer as ‘wholly inadequate’ and has said that although a few staff would receive a ‘substantial’ pay increase, some would see a ‘small’ rise and others would see their pay
frozen.
And the union has threatened industrial action if the dispute is not resolved.
‘The offer is more complicated due to the proposed withdrawal of fringe benefits and payments, which could lead to nurses finding they are worse off,’ Unite said in a statement.
It has also accused the government of attempting to ‘recycle’ the Workforce Modernisation package which was rejected by 80 per cent of the union’s members following a ballot earlier this year.
The union said it had sought a one-year pay rise for all nursing staff that took into account the cost of living in Jersey as well as the problems experienced in recruiting and retaining those in the profession.
Unite regional co-ordinating officer Terry Keefe said: ‘The proposals are overly complicated and misleading. Highly skilled nurses could find themselves worse off.
‘Residents in Jersey need to wake up. The current transformation programme being pushed by the new States chief officer, Charlie Parker, and his team of department heads will adversely affect the quality of care and lead to an increase in response times.’
He also called on Islanders to voice any concerns about the pay deal to their elected representatives.
‘The management’s current tactic of issuing unilateral pronouncements and regurgitating failed policies is increasing industrial tensions,’ Mr Keefe said.
He added that the union was now consulting with its members regarding the offer and that it would consider ‘all possible avenues in order to resolve the dispute, if management do not enter into meaningful negotiations’.
The States was contacted for comment, but had not responded at the time of writing.
