Realist, not conformist analysis of the latest financial, business and political news

That Northern Ireland Nurses Strike

Something that puzzles a little bit:

Yet salaries of nurses in Northern Ireland have been allowed to fall far behind those of colleagues in the rest of the UK. A newly qualified band 5 staff nurse there, for example, is now paid £1,419 less than their counterpart in England and Wales, and £1,875 less than in Scotland, each year.

That’s about 5%. And NI wages are, generally, about 10% lower than whole UK average.

Further, NI nurses get their training fees paid for them and still receive bursaries.

That is, there are two good reasons why NI nurse salaries should be lower than mainland. In fact, taking both together, NI nurse salaries are currently too high.

So, why the whining?

0 0 votes
Article Rating
Total
0
Shares
Subscribe
Notify of
guest

5 Comments
Oldest
Newest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
Phoenix44
Phoenix44
4 years ago

I’m a bit wary of using the national average. That presumably includes London, where wages are a fair bit higher than NI and everywhere else? Is there not some regional average we could use to see what’s going on?

jgh
jgh
4 years ago

And isn’t NornIrn cost of living lower? I’d love to get paid London Weighting and live in Sheffield.

Quentin Vole
Quentin Vole
4 years ago

My understanding is they’re complaining that, because there has been no Stormont government for several years, they haven’t had pay rises that have applied across the rUK.

john77
john77
4 years ago

Because they work in the public sector and expect to be paid on a national pay rate that is high enough to create supply equal to demand in London and provide a comfortable lifestyle anywhere else. Their basic salary is slightly less than average NI earnings and think they should get more than the average because nurses in England get paid more than the average full-time worker.
the flaw in this argument is that nurses pay is a lot more than the basic salary and they are, in fact, paid significantly more than the average full-time worker in Northern Ireland

Michael van der Riet
Michael van der Riet
4 years ago

Shop Stewarding 101. When all legitimate grievances have been fixed, transition to obtaining inequitable privileges for your members, otherwise you’re out of a job.

5
0
Would love your thoughts, please comment.x
()
x