Pay and Reward Campaign | Northern Ireland

An indicative ballot was held in NI to survey Society of Radiographers opinion on the lack of any pay offer to HSC staff. It ran from 26^th April to 16^th May 2023.

91% of members indicated that they were willing to take industrial action, including strike action in the absence of any pay offer in NI. This is a very strong view from Radiographers in NI and we are therefore moving to formal ballot.

We, as trade union leads, have had meetings with the Secretary of state for NI Chris Heaton Harris and Permanent Secretary for Health Peter May. However, despite these meetings there still has been no pay offer to HSC staff in NI. Indeed, we have been told repeatedly by Peter May that there is no money in the current budget for any pay offer.

SoR members have therefore indicated that they are not prepared for NI to remain the lowest paid region in the UK. They are not prepared to stand by whilst their workforce is depleted further by cuts to commissioned undergraduate places. We have a workforce crisis in NI and the current situation will exacerbate this position. Radiographers have been underpaid and undervalued for long enough!

The ballot opens on Wednesday 9^th August 2023 and closes at noon on Wednesday 6^th September 2023.

The pre-paid envelopes are second class postage so please leave at least 7 days for the ballot to be returned.

A fair pay offer for NI staff to address the workforce crisis.

We haven’t asked for a specific percentage rise or flat rate increase but considering that the Pay Review Body for other public sector workers have been accepted by the Government at between 6% and 6.5% that would be the least we would expect.

Any increased offer would be put back to you as the members to decide whether you want to accept it or not. We are clear that any offer must be a consolidated amount.

 Members who have a substantive contract of employment directly with an HSCNI Employer.

No. This is because you don’t have a substantive contract. You can decide not to work on the day of the strike.

Your ballot paper will be sent to the address we have on your membership record as of Monday 31^st July 2023.

If you haven’t received your ballot paper by Monday 14^th August 2023 then please contact [email protected] and we will look into it.

Please note: If the details on your record are incorrect we can’t reissue your ballot paper. 

Unfortunately, due to the legislation governing industrial action ballots, we are compelled to use the postal system.

This very much depends on individual situations. Should this happen to you please contact [email protected] to urgently discuss.

Yes, you can update your details at any time. 

You can do this online via the 'My Account' area of the website or by emailing: [email protected]. 

Yes, you should use your democratic right to express your opinion. You can always support your colleagues on the picket line – however do take SoR advice if you are on sick leave.

Yes, absolutely. All our members have equal rights in the SoR and deserve appropriate reward for their hard work and dedication.

No, you won’t. This is because you have to be in substantive employment in order to be balloted. As a student you are not an employee.

If you have started work in an HSCNI employer AND had updated your SoR membership record to reflect this before 31 July 2023, then you will receive a ballot paper.  

As long as you are in a substantive role on the day(s) of the strike you can still take part even if you didn’t get the opportunity to vote.

The vote is an aggregated ballot. This means that all eligible members in Northern Ireland are being balloted at the same time and the overall result will apply to all members.

So, if there is a vote to strike then all members in Northern Ireland will be able to take strike action.

Other forms of industrial action known as ‘action short of strike action’ take a long time to have an effect. It also can put members under emotional pressure to perform examinations/treatments which have not been included in the limited service we tell the employer we will provide.

If the members are out of the department and on the picket line there is less likelihood of this happening and of individuals being picked off.

Finally, strike action is very visible in that there are picket lines outside hospitals which in their turn increase publicity and provide an opportunity to educate the public.

An industrial action ballot is part of any trade union’s democratic process and in a democracy those in the minority are expected to comply with the majority decision. However, as explained in the previous question, you can’t be made to strike and the SoR would not seek to take any disciplinary action against you for not doing so.

We do understand that some people in the current situation will not be able to afford to strike and we respect individual circumstances and decisions.

No one can make you go on strike and there would be no disciplinary or other action by the SoR if you didn’t.

However, the SoR will call members out on strike on the strength of the ‘yes’ vote so it would undermine the strike and the cause if you vote to strike and then don’t do so.

Yes, we hope to plan co-ordinated strikes.

Yes. Proposed dates are 8am on Thursday 21st until 8am on Saturday 23rd September 2023. 

Unfortunately, the SoR is not big enough in terms of member numbers and income to provide strike pay.

Although Trusts in England were advised by their solicitors to only deduct 1/365 of annual salary maximum for each strike day Northern Ireland have previously deducted all the hours a staff member was due to work on the day.

The SoR and other NHS trade unions in Northern Ireland are seeking to clarify what is going to happen this time and will keep you updated

The SoR is committed to providing an emergency service which is colloquially know as ‘life and limb’. This will depend on the service with particular concern for radiotherapy treatment commitments.

There is however no legal obligation to provide any service and more advice will be given in due course.

The trade union can only call on members to take industrial action where the majority of those who voted, voted 'yes' to taking action. If there is majority support, the action must begin within four weeks of the ballot or eight if it's agreed between union and employer. 

Learn more here. 

Proposed dates are 8am on Thursday 21st until 8am on Saturday 23rd September 2023. 

Yes!  Encourage your colleagues to join online here. 

Yes, please! Details of how to become a rep can be found here. 

There are a number of ways that individual members can help. The best way is by offering to help your local SoR rep who will have a lot to organise in a short space of time and offering to do some of that work would be greatly appreciated.

In this web section you will find links to briefings we are holding which are open to all members. Sign up to one of these to find out more and advise other members to do the same.

And, of course, the most obvious thing you can do is to make sure you vote and encourage all your colleagues to do so as well.