NI health unions meeting to discuss pay parity offer - and possible end to strike action
Exceptional board meeting to be held for nursing leaders
By SARAH MCKINLEY
Northern Ireland's health unions are meeting today (Wednesday) to decide whether or not a new pay parity offer, tabled by new Minister, Robin Swann, is enough to end strike action.
They will then meet Department of Health officials later.
The money would mean that nurses here will be paid the same as their counterparts in other parts of the United Kingdom, as the current lack of pay-parity had been one of the factors provoking strike action among health workers.
Mr Swann said the money was not coming from additional Westminster funds, but from the existing Stormont pot, contrary to what has been previously indicated by Unions and the Northern Ireland Secretary of State, Julian Smith.
An 'exceptional board meeting' has been called on Thursday morning for members of the Royal College of Nursing, and a decision is set to be taken then.
In a statement, the RCN said they will consider formal communication on safe staffing and pay parity which they await from the minister.
"On receipt of this correspondence, the suspension of strike action scheduled for next week may be proposed," the RCN said.
"We are pleased that the minister has listened carefully and responded quickly to our concerns, and that the situation in relation to pay parity has now been resolved.
"We are also satisfied that real progress has been made in relation to safe staffing and recruitment and retention of nursing staff.
"The minister has committed to a costed implementation plan for safe staffing within an agreed short period."
But, the RCN isn't the only health workers union. NIPSA and UNISON members all took part in strike action too, and a ballot for Royal College of Midwives is due to close at the end of the month.
The other unions will have to make a decision on the offer at stake too, but with planned strikes next week, the clock is now ticking.