Unison NJC Committee May decision regarding the 2024/2025 cost of living pay offer.
PLEASE NOTE THIS IS A SEPARATE ISSUE FROM THE NI SPECIFIC PAY AND GRADING REVIEW
Your Committee met on 22 May and agreed to consult members on the pay offer of a flat rate increase of £1,290 (pro rata for part-time and term time only workers), from 1 April 2024 (England, Wales and Northern Ireland). This consultation is open to all education workers who have a contractual commitment from their employer to implement NJC pay terms and conditions.
The consultation will be run using the national digital consultative system. It will open from Wednesday 5 June. All members covered by the NJC for whom we hold an email address on RMS will be sent a personalised voting link by the end of that week (i.e. by the end of 7 June). The digital consultation will close on Friday 28 June.
The consultation will be held on the basis of recommending that members vote to reject the offer as agreed by the UNISON NJC Committee.
How will the digital consultation work?
The pay consultation will open with UNISON members receiving a personalised email with a voting link for them to click on – this will take them directly to the webpage where they can vote to ‘accept’ or ‘reject’ the pay offer.
There will be a series of communications to members to encourage them to vote, and those who have already voted will be dropped from future communications. We also plan to send out a text message during the consultation period so that members can vote from a link in the text message. Members who receive their emails on mobile phones can vote on their mobile devices.
This UK digital pay consultation platform has been used by UNISON in recent years to consult members in other service groups and sectors. The platform will provide detailed information for the NJC Committee on both the turnout and ‘accept’/’reject’ votes t a regional i.e. NI LEVEL. This means that branches, regions and the NJC Committee will be able to see how strong members’ views are in relation to the pay offer. We have found that participation in pay consultations has gone up where we have run digital pay consultations.
Is the digital voting system secure?
Yes, the digital voting system is secure and confidential, and each member can only vote once. Members must not forward their email with their personalised voting link to any other members – it is only for them. Their email will make this clear.
What if members don’t have an email address or a mobile phone number on RMS?
If members don’t have email or a mobile phone number on RMS, then they won’t be sent a personal voting by email. However, they can still vote and take part in the pay consultation. Members will be able to visit the council and school staff (NJC) digital consultation webpage and vote from there. The only difference is that they will need to verify their membership as each member can only vote once. Members will need to follow a link and enter their National Insurance (NI) Number or UNISON membership number and their date of birth (as recorded on RMS) and their surname in order to access their personalised vote. If they are unsuccessful in this verification, they will be directed to call UNISON Direct. UNISON Direct colleagues will be able to access some aspects of the membership data that we hold in order to ensure details are corrected and/or enquiries around eligibility can be raised.
Branches and regions will be able to share this webpage so that all members who don’t get an email (or a text message) can vote from the webpage.
Will new members get a vote in the digital consultation?
All new members who join by 13 June 2024 will get a vote in the consultation. They will be sent their personalised link towards the end of the consultation period. Please use this to encourage recruitment activity so that as many NI school staff and council workers as possible get to have a say on their pay offer.