Talks to head off further strike action by nurses in pursuit of pay rises for supervisory and management grades begin today. The Nursing Alliance is to meet the Department of Finance on benchmarking this morning and with the Health Service Employers' Agency on regrading issues in the afternoon. Progress on both fronts is vital if the new national agreement on public service pay is to be preserved.
On Tuesday the Psychiatric Nurses' Association called off its threatened strike after securing about 60 upgradings for supervisory staff and agreement to examine the possibility of further upgradings for another 20. The increases will be worth between £1,350 and £2,350 a year. The general secretary of the PNA, Mr Des Kavanagh, said the strike had been deferred to provide "a breathing space" for talks. It was also in response to an offer by the Minister for Health, Mr Martin, last week to facilitate an early start to the benchmarking process.
The process has proved controversial for nurses because the settlement of their national strike last October provided the possibility of a pay review for supervisory and management grades, who comprise about 20 per cent of the total. This was superseded by the introduction of benchmarking in the PPF, which rules out any special pay reviews before the expiry of the PPF.
The meeting this afternoon will allow the four nursing unions and the employers to examine the possibility of further regradings through the Commission on Nursing report without breaching the PPF terms.