Ballots over health service pay produce mixed results

The SETCA services union reports that the regional government of Wallonia has agreed to allocate an additional €4.5m to the non-profit sector in response to demands from the trade unions. The sector includes a range of health and social services and the extra cash will cover a harmonization of pay structures across the sectors, proper application of elements of the 2007-2009 agreement and a range of measures on employment. The union sees this as a first step to meeting its collective bargaining demands and believes that union action, including a national demonstration on 8 June, was important

UNISON Scotland, the biggest union in local government with around 100,000 members, voted narrowly to accept a two-year pay deal that increases pay by 3% in 2008 and 2.5% in 2009. The union said that it was very disappointed by the pay deal and the narrowness of the vote reflected widespread discontent with the outcome. The pay offer was rejected by two other unions in the sector – the GMB with around 25,000 members and Unite with around 20,000. [Read more at > UNISON Scotland (EN)->http://www.unison-scotland.org.uk/localgovt/pay2008/index.html] [Read more at > GMB (EN)->http://www.gmb.org.uk