Today (24th February) UNISON can announce that our members working across the health and social services system have overwhelmingly voted to accept the proposed framework agreement on pay parity and safe staffing. Commenting on the result, UNISON Regional Secretary Patricia McKeown said:
On behalf of UNISON members in Northern Ireland I extend a message of solidarity to your 8,000 members on strike at Swedish healthcare facilities in Seattle. We are proud of our long standing relationship with SEIU 1199 NY and offer any support we can.
In Northern Ireland 26,000 of our members across the health service have been engaged in strike action for 7 weeks. We have just suspended the action to ballot on an offer that restores pay parity and commits to tackling safe staffing issues right across the service.
We are aware that members are anxious to be fully informed on the content and detail in the proposed framework agreement on pay parity and safe staffing.
The negotiating team agreed following the endorsement by the Minister that we would ensure all figures and detail in the proposal are verified with the Department of Health and over the last few days we have been working on doing just that. So if any of you have seen figures recently distributed these are NOT officially verified.
UNISON, the largest union in the health and social services system, has today (16th January) agreed to ballot our members and suspend industrial action.
This morning UNISON’s Health Leadership met to consider a Framework Agreement in relation to the long running industrial dispute on pay parity and safe staffing in the health service.
The agreement was reached last night after many hours of intensive negotiations between the trade union group and the Department of Health.
UNISON Head of Bargaining Anne Speed, the lead Trade Union negotiator said:
Today (14th January) UNISON has led a delegation of trade unions to meet the new Minister for Health, Robin Swann MLA, to discuss resolution of the ongoing industrial dispute on pay parity and safe staffing levels.
Responding to a request from the new Health Minister, Anne Speed UNISON’s Head of Bargaining and Lead Secretary of the Joint Trade Union Group of Health Unions has agreed to lead a delegation to meet him on Tuesday 14th January .
Today (10th January) UNISON members working across the health and social services system are continuing their strike action over the lack of pay parity with NHS workers in Scotland, England and Wales and on safe staffing levels.
