RCM members to have their say on pay in Scotland through consultation
on 13 April 2021
The Royal College of Midwives (RCM) members in Scotland are being encouraged to have their say on pay as part of the union’s official consultation on the offer of a 4% pay rise for NHS midwives and other staff.
The RCM is continuing to support a significant pay rise for NHS staff through their ‘Deliver a Decent Deal’ campaign.
The 4% offer for NHS midwives in Scotland was presented by Scottish Government during challenging negotiations with RCM and other unions that represent NHS staff.
The Scottish Government has agreed to backdate the pay award to 1 December 2020, four months earlier than 1 April 2021 when NHS staff would usually see pay awards come into effect. The backdating of the pay award was as a result of RCM and other unions calling for an early pay rise and is in addition to the one-off £500 payment given in February 2021.
RCM’s National officer for Scotland, Jackie Mitchell, said: “We are happy that Scotland is leading the way on pay and we believe this is the best offer we can achieve in the current climate. We are encouraging all midwives, maternity care assistants and maternity support workers in Scotland to have their say and respond to our consultation on this offer. Crucially the Scottish Government has agreed to backdate this offer to December last year and all Agenda for Change staff are set to benefit by voting yes.”
This offer will be applied across Agenda for Change pay bands, but unions were unable to achieve an increase for bands 8 and upwards due to the Scottish Government public sector pay policy.
RCM’s Executive Director for External Relations and one of the lead negotiators for NHS unions, Jon Skewes, said: “Lots of hard work and negotiations have happened to get to this point. An offer of 4%, which will also be backdated, is something the RCM has been lobbying and campaigning for. Sadly the same cannot be said yet for our members in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The Scottish Government has just proved a significant and backdated offer is affordable so let’s do the same for midwives, maternity support workers and all NHS workers across the UK.”
The RCM consultation started 12 April and will run for 4 weeks until midday 10 May 2021.