Radiographers lead the way in rejecting Agenda for Change

Submitted by Anon on 3 October, 2004 - 10:47

The 16,000-strong Society of Radiographers has emphatically rejected the proposed new pay deal for the NHS, Agenda for Change (AfC). In results announced on October 1st, the SoR delivered an 83% no vote, on a 67% turnout.

A year ago, the SoR was the only union to reject AfC, although only the RCN positively accepted it. The other unions, most significant amongst them Amicus and UNISON, voted to 'try out' the package in twelve Early Implementer sites. Now that the EI sites have had a year to test the proposals, the unions are balloting again, and the SoR set the ball rolling with it's massive no vote.

The SoR leadership, Society Council, was recommending that Radiographers vote yes, despite seeing an increase in their working week of 2.5 hours, and the prospect of significant numbers of their members facing a pay freeze if the deal is brought in. The SoR special conference a month ago threw out a proposal from the Society Council that the ballot should carry a recommendation to vote yes, but the leadership continued to advocate that SoR members endorse the proposals.

Similar struggles are going on in both Amicus and UNISON, which ballot later this month. Amicus will not be making a recommendation - the result of a calculation by Amicus officials that recommending a yes vote would alienate activists, and probably lead to a vigorous 'vote no' campaign. In UNISON, the decision on what to recommend in the ballot will be made at a special conference this Thursday, at which the leadership committee will advocate a yes recommendation, but will face significant opposition, even from a number of the Early Implementer (EI) site branches. A composite motion calling for a recommendation to reject AfC is being put to the conference, and the vote is likely to be exceptionally close.

Agenda for Change is being sold to health workers as a modernisation of an out-dated pay system in the NHS. In reality it is an attempt by NHS employers to avoid future legal action from staff using equal pay legislation. In Carlise, workers continue to press a legal claim which is expected to net them many thousands of pounds. And the government fears that this case could be replicated across the NHS which has long been known to pay miserly wages to its predominantly female workforce. If the Carlise case were applied nationwide, estimates of the cost to the NHS wage bill hover around the £13 billion mark. Agenda for Change represents a way to deflect such claims, by providing employers with a 'job evaluation scheme' which they can use to justify all pay rates.

Under the guise of 'harmonisation', AfC also forces back the unions' fight for a 35-hour week, by 'harmonising' all staff on 37.5 hours - a reduction for some groups, but a significant increase in the working week for others.

Some concessions have been won from the Government over the past few months because the unions were clearly struggling to sell the deal to their members. But the SoR ballot result shows clearly that the best way to win further concessions is to reject the current offer, and force the Government and the NHS employers back to the negotiating table. If UNISON and Amicus can follow the SoR's impressive lead then it may be possible to have a serious fight for a living wage in the NHS.

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