- Conference
- 2009 Health Care Service Group Conference
- Date
- 5 December 2008
- Decision
- Carried as Amended
This conference recognises the concern that some NHS Foundation Trusts believe that the flexibilities in the NHS Terms and Conditions Handbook mean that they can ignore national agreements and collective bargaining arrangements. Conference also notes that some Trusts may also take these flexibilities as grounds to undermine key principles of partnership working, for example by imposing changes to the Agenda for Change framework locally without union agreement.
Conference is aware that one NHS Trust in Dorset delayed the introduction of the nationally negotiated increase in travel expenses in 2008 because they did not believe that as a Foundation Trust they were obliged to implement it. The same Trust has also threatened to introduce local pay bargaining on annual awards and to reduce other contractual terms of employment.
Conference recognises that Foundation Trusts do have some freedoms under the national agreement but believes that any local alterations should only be introduced where there is agreement between trade unions and the employer. Conference also notes that the underlying principle to these freedoms is that the benefit to staff should be no worse overall than those contained in the NHS Terms and Conditions Handbook, as amended by subsequent national agreements and awards. Conference also notes that whilst individual NHS Foundation Trusts can improve on certain conditions and national agreements they cannot overall pay less than those negotiated or awarded through the NHS Staff Council and Pay Review Body mechanism.
Conference determines that UNISON should oppose any attempts by individual NHS Trusts to undermine the Terms and Conditions (Agenda for Change) agreement and national collective bargaining. To oppose such threats conference instructs the Service Group Executive to develop a campaigning and negotiating strategy to ensure that branches are supported by a collective union response that a threat in one employer is a threat to us all.
Conference therefore call on the SGE to work to strengthen and improve the AFC agreement by:
1.Surveying through branches and regions the extent to which employers are sticking to it or trying to undermine it.
2.Raising at local and national level our determination not to allow AFC to be destroyed and making clear to the employers that we will defend and improve it.
3.Reaffirming our determination to ensure that the principles of the T&C’s are upheld, particularly those on High Cost Area Supplements and reviewing those areas with need revisiting.
4.Defending national pay bargaining in the NHS and opposing attempts at local pay deals which undermine our national position.
5.A report on this work to be supervised by the SGE and presented to the 2010 Health Group conference.