Anger at pay disparity: 'A nurse in Derry is as valuable as one in Manchester or Glasgow or Cardiff'

The issue was raised by People Before Profit Councillor Shaun Harkin as the Council reviewed the minutes of a previous meeting during which the matter of pay disparity was raised.

At that earlier meeting, UUP Alderman Derek Hussey expressed his dismay at the ‘discrimination’ evidenced against health workers in Northern Ireland.

NHS staff in England are getting a 5% pay rise as well as a one off lump sum, but while Stormont remains in limbo here, the Department of Health here said it is not in a position to authorise a similar pay adjustment. Unions have warned that workers are being held to ransom due to the lack of an Executive and Assembly.

Derry & Strabane Council has previously written to the Secretary of State to ensure health and social care workers in Derry and District and across the North are not discriminated against in pay and conditions negotiations and calling on Chris Heaton-Harris to engage with and meet

trade union leaders to discuss a fair pay resolution.

Colr. Harkin said: “It is very, very disappointing that once again pay parity is going to be broken with health care workers here in the north with NHS workers in Britain. The trade unions in the filed already made clear their anger, frustration at this.

"We agreed to write to the Secretary of State expressing our anger and clearly nothing has been done about that. What it now means is that we are likely to face more industrial action by health care workers.”

He said PBP will be expressing its solidarity with the striking workers.

On behalf of Sinn Féin, Colr. Christopher Jackson said: “It is disgraceful that there is people providing vital services in an under-resourced system that are being paid differently to people carrying out the same vital services in England, Scotland and Wales.

"It is a direct result of the failure of government, the fact that we don’t have an Assembly to stand up for our public services as a whole.

"We do need to continue to put pressure on the British Secretary of State and those that are placing a stranglehold on our public sector. The solution to all of this is local, accountable Ministers. We need to get the Assembly back up and running. It is encouraging that there are soundings from the DUP that they are starting to listen to people and hopefully they will get back round the table to work with the rest of us to resolve the many issues affecting the public sector at this time.”

SDLP Colr. Brian Tierney agreed. “It is encouraging to see one particular party’s position may be changing.

"A nurse or a health care worker in Derry is as valuable to their patients as a health care worker in Manchester or Glasgow or Cardiff and they should be in our view paid the same for the same job.”

Colr. Tierney said there were two ways to make it happen – either the Secretary of State does it, which he said was unlikely, or an Executive is formed and a health Minister appointed and a budget set. “It is now affecting people right across the north, from health care workers, to teachers, to Housing Executive workers – every possible sector and the only way in my view to have it fixed is to have local ministers.”

Alderman Hussey also spoke of the disparity and called for an end to the ‘discrimination against health care workers in Northern Ireland’.

"We want to see it properly endorsed, properly sorted out,” he said.