Thread by @UNISONOurNHS

NHS pay. One Team, your say. A quick thread on ballot info for UNISON branches and activists. Hopefully you've seen our latest on this but we know it's helpful for you to know what we're thinking and what we're doing, not just what we're saying.

So, off we go.

#NHSpay
#NHS
🧵

First up, headlines. Key info for members.

3% #NHSPayRise for England is unacceptable:
❌doesn't increase pay by £2k for any band below 8c
❌stretches gap between highest & lowest paid
❌doesn't embed real #LivingWage as minimum

https://twitter.com/unisontheunion/status/1420063616095641611

How did we reach that conclusion? Our lead NHS committee (the HSGE, to give them their full, catchy, title) met on Friday to assess the pay outcome.
Their assessment is part of the branch briefing we've published today: unison.org.uk/content/upload…

One of the things that has really riled us is the Living Wage. It falls just short. We're still not sure why both the Pay Review Body and the government ignored this, whether through sheer incompetence or because they simply didn’t think it was important enough.

But the 3% also fails to meet out claim for the vast majority of staff. You have to be at the top of Band 8c, earning over £70,000, for it to exceed £2,000.
And worse, that effect stretches the gap between the lowest and highest paid in the NHS even further.

So we are clear. We cannot recommend
members accept this pay outcome.

But the next bit is important.

Our assessment is that to have an impact on the
outcome we need to mount widespread and
sustained industrial action in the NHS.

There is absolutely no point in wasting time asking you what you think of 3 as a number. I am not Bruce Forsyth and you are not in Play Your Cards Right.

We can challenge this outcome if there is widespread support from UNISON members in the NHS to do so.

So we're asking them.

Specifically, the choice is this:

🔲I Accept the outcome and do not wish the union to challenge it
🔲I Oppose the outcome and will take part in lawful industrial action up to and including strike action

That's what will land with members on Friday.

(Not yet in UNISON? Join today! You'll be able to vote if you join in the next few weeks, but the sooner the better!)

join.unison.org.uk

So when we're talking to members over the next few weeks it's important to get our language right. This isn't an offer, and this isn't accept or reject. There's no table to return to.

This is about whether a majority of UNISON members in the NHS wish to challenge the outcome.

This is where it gets hard, and we need to be honest about that.

To mount lawful industrial action UNISON we need over 50 per cent of all eligible members to take part in a formal postal ballot.

So our consultation has to be about turnout, not just an answer.

Branches, activists, friends and family are all going to be vital in driving that turnout. We can making voting as easy as possible but it's conversations with familiar faces that will really drive participation.

To give the best opportunity to reach as many people as possible the HSGE have agreed to run the consultation from this Friday until Friday 10 September. Anyone who joins before Friday 3 September gets a vote.

We've published a bunch of resources for branches today, so please check them out and get ordering!

unison.org.uk/at-work/health…

And if you have a really detailed practical question, hopefully the answer is in here somewhere. If not, give us a shout!
unison.org.uk/content/upload…