The Royal College of Midwives

RCM members employed in the HSC in Northern Ireland voted yes to both strike action and action short of a strike.

The Royal College of Midwives We will start our action with a four hour stoppage on Thursday 30 th April between 8am and 12pm. Workplace Reps will meet with Heads of Midwifery to discuss contingency planning during the action. The action will not put women and babies at risk and will not ask you to break your code of conduct.

The Royal College of Midwives Our further action will take place from Friday 1 st May – Thursday 7 th May. RCM members will only work overtime if it is agreed in advance that they will be paid for it and RCM members should take all the breaks they are entitled to.

The Royal College of Midwives We believe that by taking action we can send a strong message that midwives and maternity support workers deserve fair pay. We believe investing in staff in an investment in better care HSC staff deserve to be fairly rewarded for their hard work.

The Royal College of Midwives Northern Ireland is the only country that does not have an agreement for 2015/16. RCM members in Scotland will be paid the 1% uplift for 2015/16 that was recommended by the NHS Pay Review Body. We negotiated an agreement in Wales and negotiated an agreement in England for 2015/16. We want to negotiate an improved offer for members in Northern Ireland rather than risking another year of imposition.

The Royal College of Midwives We are campaigning for a negotiated settlement that is at least as good as the settlement achieved in England, Wales and Scotland: an above inflation pay rise for 2015/16; and a commitment to the NHS Pay Review Body to determine future pay uplifts on the NHS in Northern Ireland.

The Royal College of Midwives On 29 th September 2014 RCM members in England made history by taking industrial action. As a result of our campaign and industrial action in England we negotiated an improved offer. We consulted with members in England and almost 94% voted in favour of accepting the offer. The offer was accepted by the majority of NHS Trade Unions at the NHS Staff Council on 9 th March.

The Royal College of Midwives The agreement in England is: A 1% consolidated pay rise for all staff up to pay point 42 from April 2015; A commitment to the Pay Review Body for 2016 and thereafter; abolition of the first pay point of the Agenda for Change pay scales and an increase to the second pay point to £15,100; an additional £200 consolidated payment to staff in pay points 3-8;

The Royal College of Midwives a one year increment freeze in 2015/16 for staff on pay point 34 (second point on Band 8A) and above (to end April 2016); talks to take place with a view to the proposed redundancy changes being implemented from 1 April 2015; and the Trade Unions commit to talks on further reforming Agenda for Change which would aim to produce an agreement for implementation from April This will be part of a more general review of terms and conditions for all NHS staff including doctors and senior managers.

The Royal College of Midwives We believe that if we take action in Northern Ireland we will send a clear message that HSC staff deserve fair pay and we can get members in Northern Ireland a better deal as we did in England Please make sure you take part in the action!

The Royal College of Midwives and tell us why fair pay is important to you with the hashtag #hscpay. Tell us your personal stories – why is fair pay important to you? Here are some more reasons why we are saying enough is enough and you should take part in the action…