{"id":19202,"date":"2019-10-07T15:33:01","date_gmt":"2019-10-07T14:33:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/unitelive.org\/?p=19202"},"modified":"2020-11-12T12:55:08","modified_gmt":"2020-11-12T12:55:08","slug":"lincolnshire-health-visitors-dispute-escalates","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/?p=19202","title":{"rendered":"‘Divide and rule’ jobs move slammed"},"content":{"rendered":"
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More than 70 Lincolnshire health visitors are being balloted for strike action as the long running pay dispute escalates with county council bosses trying to \u00e2\u20ac\u0098divide and rule\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 over future job roles.<\/p>\n

 
\nUnite said today (October 7) that the new ballot would not only involve the health visitors who have been denied legitimate pay rises by the council since October 2017, but health visitors on the lower grade 9 and higher grade 10.<\/p>\n

 
\nThe ballot opens on Friday, October 11\u00c2\u00a0and closes on Friday, October 25.<\/p>\n

 
\nUnite said that the dispute had now escalated from the first bout of strike action – 32 days since July with the loss of around 450 shifts \u00e2\u20ac\u201c which centred on health visitors having lost more than \u00c2\u01412,000 a year since they were transferred from the NHS – to the council\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s insistence on different contracts for grade 9 and grade 10 health visitors.<\/p>\n

 
\nUnite argues that as all health visitors have the same community nurse qualifications, the same workplace training and in carrying out the health visitor role to the professional standards required by the Nursing and Midwifery Council (the statutory regulator of health visitors), their role is equivalent to a grade 10 job role.<\/p>\n

 
\nUnite believes all health visitors should therefore be graded and paid accordingly \u00e2\u20ac\u201c and that the council\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s failure to properly evaluate the role of health visitors will lead to pay inequality, with those on grade 9 and old NHS contracts not being paid for their true job\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s worth.<\/p>\n

 
\nUnite said that the county council\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s continual refusal to negotiate constructively since strike action originally commenced in the summer was having an adverse impact on Lincolnshire families with babies and young children.<\/p>\n

 
\nThe ballot centres on: \u00e2\u20ac\u015bThe employer\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s failure to properly evaluate the role of health visitors and the creation and reinforcement of a two tier health visitor role by the recent offer of Lincolnshire county council contracts.<\/p>\n

 
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bUnite is not in agreement with the current structure at the council with regard to the division of a health visitor role into two separate job descriptions with two different contracts.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 
\nUnite regional officer Steve Syson said, \u00e2\u20ac\u015bThis dispute has now escalated due to the fact that the council has provocatively divided the health visitor role into two separate jobs.<\/p>\n

 
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThis tawdry \u00e2\u20ac\u0098divide and rule\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 sleight-of-hand manoeuvre from this cash rich council, with a surplus of \u00c2\u0141188m for 2018\/19, needs to be exposed,” he added.<\/p>\n

 
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bWe are now balloting all our health visitor members for a new mandate for strike action as the council\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s imposition of a two tier health visitor role and their push to recruit into these roles has pushed our hand.<\/p>\n

 
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bI have been engaging with both grade 9 lower level health visitors, along with grade 10 members, as it will affect their role going forward and, under the career progression scheme, the council is hell-bent on implementing, the grade 10 roles can be held back from pay progression, if they do not meet arbitrary targets set by council bosses,” Syson went on to say.<\/p>\n

 
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bOur case is simple and that is all health visitors have had the same community nurse qualifications and workplace training \u00e2\u20ac\u201c and therefore they should be on the same grade 10 contracts with the same pay scales after preceptorship for newly qualified health visitors for a period of two years.<\/p>\n

 
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bI hope all our members fully support this ballot, because, if they don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t vote to take action, they will be accepting the division of the role and for those that don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t move onto a grade 10 it will mean a loss of \u00c2\u01414,000 per year, which is totally unacceptable.<\/p>\n

 
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThe council\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s blinkered action has already led to some of our very experienced members leaving their job to seek alternative employment where their qualifications are better respected and this drift will continue.<\/p>\n

 
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bOur members are forever conscious that those who are suffering most are Lincolnshire families with young children \u00e2\u20ac\u201c and for this reason alone, we call on this hard line council to come to the negotiating table for constructive talks.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165
\nUnite represents 72 of the 126 health visitors employed by the county council.<\/p>\n

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