AGM - SOG elections - next strikes - pension choice 2
- Created on Sunday, 18 January 2015 12:44
Annual General Meeting
Friday 23rd January 2015
Starts 6pm
Four Pillars Hotel,
Abingdon Rd, Oxford.
Fight for fair pay - save the NHS
Speakers:
Roger McKenzie - Unison Assistant General Secretary
Andrew Smith MP (invited)
£500 cash prize raffle open to all members attending the meeting before 7.30 pm
Followed by party until 11.30pm with music, bar and hot and cold buffet
The meeting is open to all members - no booking required unless you want a meal.
If you would like a meal email branchsecretary[at]ouh.org.uk or use the booking form here
Strike materials and diaries will be available at the AGM
Elections for the following Self Organised Group Officers
will take place on Thursday 22nd January
at East Oxford Health Centre, Manzil Way, OX4 1YH. Training room 1 on level 3.
Black Members Self Organised group 17.30-18.30
Disabled Members' Self Organised Group 18.30 - 19.30
New year - New strikes
Strike Thursday 29th January 9 am to 9 pm (picket lines from early shifts to remind people to come out at 9am.) Mid-morning joint union rally- time and venue to be confirmed.
Strike Wednesday 25th February for 24 hours from midnight
Between these two strike days we are asking you to take your breaks and not do unpaid overtime. We will continue to work with employers to ensure that patient safety remains our priority during the action we are taking.
Please circulate the latest strike leaflet - click link to download
The industrial action thousands of health workers have already taken has kept pay in the media spotlight and won public support for NHS staff. That action is helping us to win the argument over pay — even NHS leaders are now calling for a change of direction, recognising that more pay freezes will damage the NHS and patient care.
That puts more pressure on the government. Now we have to increase that pressure to make Jeremy Hunt change his pay policy and treat you fairly.
A fair deal for 2015
UNISON is very clear. This dispute is not just about the 1% PRB- recommended increase that was taken away from you last year. It is about the government’s plan not to give you a pay rise this year too.
That’s another year of your pay falling further behind the cost of living, of 77,000 staff earning below the Living Wage and of politicians saying you’re not worth a decent pay rise.
Now the government has announced plans to cuts unsocial hours payments which will make staff even more hard up and will make the recruitment problems worse.
The Scottish Parliament has agreed to honour the full recommendations of the NHS Pay Review Body and introduce the Living Wage (effectively abolishing Band 1 and the lowest Band 2 pay points).
Following the last strike the Welsh Assembly also agreed the living wage, a one off payment and a consolidated pay rise next year.
Despite wages falling by over 10% and the forthcoming General Election so far the government refuses to budge in England.
Workers in Oxfordshire have far higher living costs than colleagues in Wales and Scotland. We need to organise effectively to win pay justice in England and some recognition (and pay) because we are in a high cost area. This pay campaign involves strikes, work-to-rule action, lobbies of MPs and marches.
Time to step up
That’s why we have planned two more days of strike action. A twelve hour strike between 9 a.m. and p.m. on Thursday 29 January and a 24 hour strike on Wednesday 25 February. Between these two strike days we are asking you to take your breaks and not to work for free. We will continue to work with employers to ensure that patient safety remains our priority during the action we are taking.
We know you support our fair pay campaign but it is only by standing together in UNISON that we can win a proper pay rise this year.
Step up and take part – help to make the action more successful and make a difference for yourself, your colleagues, your patients and the NHS.
Please circulate the latest strike leaflet - click link to download
Pension Choice 2 - Unison advice sessions
NHS staff who still have benefits in the 1995 scheme are being offered a second chance to transfer these benefits to the 2008 pensions benefits scheme with advice that they could benefit from such a transfer.
However this might not always be the case and very much depends on a number of factors including the age you wish to retire and whether you have tapered protection from the imposition of the 2015 scheme which will force many NHS staff to work longer before being eligible for a full pension.
Members have requested advice on whether to transfer their benefits and stewards in OUHT and OHFT are in the process of organising advice and briefing sessions from a Unison National Pensions advisor and Lighthouse Financial advice - a Unison affiliate. Unison reps cannot give pensions advice themselves.
We will notify members when dates, times and venues for these briefings are confirmed but you may wish to register your intrest in the briefing/advice session beforehand. You can do this online here.
Advice leaflets on the scheme are available online here.
Unsocial hours bonuses and increments under attack
- Created on Thursday, 15 January 2015 11:57
Not content with years of pay freezes that have seen NHS pay shrink by at least 10% the government is now seeking to cut wages further by asking the Pay Review Body to change the pay system that would see wages reduced further.
The government has attacked annual increments as "unfair and unaffordable" and said that unsocial hours payments "do not reflect modern practice".
The government has suggested options for changing unsocial hours premia which include:
- changing the times defined as ‘unsocial’
- paying Saturdays at plain time
- lowering the rates for Sunday and Bank Holidays
If annual increments are abolished we can be sure that staff will not then be moved to the top of the current bands as the aim is to reduce the NHS pay bill further, meaning more cuts for exerienced staff if past increments are removed to equalise pay across bands.
These attacks can only undermine recruitment and retention of NHS staff.
The current pay dispute is essential to defeating future attacks on pay. Support the strikes on 29th January and 25th February.
Read more: Unsocial hours bonuses and increments under attack
Latest strike bulletin - all out on Jan 29 and Feb 25
- Created on Thursday, 15 January 2015 11:14
1982 Pay Dispute: members of NHS nursing unions - which later merged to form UNISON campaigned and took strike action to win improved pay and conditions - what was won by previous generations is now being eroded. Time to Act!
Please circulate the latest strike leaflet - click link to download
The industrial action thousands of health workers have already taken has kept pay in the media spotlight and won public support for NHS staff. That action is helping us to win the argument over pay — even NHS leaders are now calling for a change of direction, recognising that more pay freezes will damage the NHS and patient care.
That puts more pressure on the government. Now we have to increase that pressure to make Jeremy Hunt change his pay policy and treat you fairly.
A fair deal for 2015
UNISON is very clear. This dispute is not just about the 1% PRB- recommended increase that was taken away from you last year. It is about the government’s plan not to give you a pay rise this year too.
That’s another year of your pay falling further behind the cost of living, of 77,000 staff earning below the Living Wage and of politicians saying you’re not worth a decent pay rise.
Now the government has announced plans to cuts unsocial hours payments which will make staff even more hard up and will make the recruitment problem worse.
Time to step up
That’s why we have planned two more days of strike action. A twelve hour strike between 9 a.m. and p.m. on Thursday 29 January and a 24 hour strike on Wednesday 25 February. Between these two strike days we are asking you to take your breaks and not to work for free. We will continue to work with employers to ensure that patient safety remains our priority during the action we are taking.
We know you support our fair pay campaign but it is only by standing together in UNISON that we can win a proper pay rise this year.
Step up and take part – help to make the action more successful and make a difference for yourself, your colleagues, your patients and the NHS.
Please circulate the latest strike leaflet - click link to download
NHS pay - new year, new strike dates
- Created on Saturday, 20 December 2014 14:26
The industrial action you have already taken is supported by the public and is really putting pressure on the government and NHS leaders.
In 2015 we will be increasing this pressure.
We will be asking you to take strike action again on Thursday 29 January and Wednesday 25 February.
In between these two days we will be asking you to take action short of strike.
It’s time to stand together in UNISON and fight for:
- a proper pay rise for all NHS staff
- the Living Wage for the lowest paid
- a commitment to close the gap between your pay and your bills
Finally, UNISON would like to thank you for your support in this campaign.
We know many of you will be working while others enjoy the Christmas break.
We send our best wishes for the festive season to your and your family.
Make a new year’s resolution to be part of the action in 2015.
How you can help
- Email your MPIf you haven’t already done so, we are asking you to to let them know what you think about your pay.
- Update your detailsMake sure your details are up to date, including your email and mobile number so we can send you updates about the campaign.
- Ask a friend to join UNISON Let your colleagues know about the new strike dates and industrial action. They can join UNISON now and take part in the action and make our voice even stronger!
13 unions strike on 24th November
- Created on Wednesday, 10 December 2014 08:09
It is 8 years since NHS staff had a pay rise to match inflation, 8 years of pay not keeping up with prices, with hundreds of thousands of healthworkers becoming poorer as a result. Now most staff have been denied any pay rise this year or next, and to cap it all the government is demanding the Pay Review Body reduces unsocial hours payments next year.
These attacks are a kick in the teeth for staff who are working harder than ever to meet the growing demand for NHS services at a time that budgets are being cut; when NHS trusts can’t recruit staff and are relying on casual and agency staff to cover vacancies.
The assault on pay alone was enough to push many to support the call by 13 NHS unions to take strike actionon 24th November, but the deteriorating state of patient care and growing concern about the future of the NHS brought an added urgency and stronger support for the action.
Can the budget save the NHS?
- Created on Wednesday, 10 December 2014 08:00
Oxford Health Trust has written to all its employees to prepare them for changes after a review found that its finances posed a greater risk to its ability to continue to provide services in line with its Foundation Trust licence.
The trust, already one of the most efficient in the country, reported how it is treating 30% more people in Community Hospitals - a great boon to moving people on from general acute services. The trust reported improvements in patient safety, activity and outcomes of psychological therapies, plus extended services to cover evenings and weekends to support local health and social care work better.
The problem is that it has a forecast deficit of £4.2 million by April 2015. £1 million comes from work it isn’t being paid for and £1.7 million employing agency to fill gaps in staffing caused by poor retention and recruitment.