Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
ULSTER DOCS DEMAND PAY INCREASE PARITY
Health workers in other parts of UK get 2.8% Cases: Deaths: 295,817 45,422 Cases:14,978,271 Deaths: 616,012 Scientist rubbishes Boris claim
HOSPITALITY workers have voiced concerns about employers using the job retention scheme to make “opportunist lay-offs” and pay wages during statutory notice periods.
A small number of hospitality and tourism staff held a socially distanced protest outside Parliament Buildings yesterday calling on Economy Minister Diane Dodds to take action.
The demonstration organised by the Unite union also highlighted an alleged failure by Stormont to engage with workers while developing its postlockdown economic plan.
Unite representative Neil Moore said research commissioned by the union indicated that between 10,000 to 15,000 hospitality employees face the threat of redundancy in the coming weeks.
He added: “What we are seeing is a knee-jerk reaction to offload staff before the end of July which is obviously in line with the end of the job retention scheme in October.
“We believe there are companies using that to pay the full 12 weeks statutory notice.
“We believe that’s not right and that’s not moral that companies are using a job retention scheme funded by the taxpayers in order to offload staff and restructure in this industry.
“We need the politicians to step in to fund and save our tourism sector but that cannot be at the cost of workers’ jobs and skills.”
THE British Medical Association Northern Ireland has urged the Health Minister to make a swift decision on a pay rise for doctors.
Medics in England, Scotland and Wales were awarded a 2.8% increase on Tuesday by their governments for the 2020/21 financial year.
The BMA’S Northern Ireland Council chairman Tom Black said: “The last four months of the Covid-19 pandemic will have been one of the most stressful periods of doctors’ working lives.
“Yet they responded to it with commitment, hard work and innovation, willingly working long, unsociable hours away from their loved ones and putting their own wellbeing and lives at risk in the process.”
He added there have been significant delays to the pay award in Northern Ireland in recent years which has impacted morale and contributed to lack of pay parity, particularly during the months of waiting. Dr Black said: “Doctors and other frontline health service workers will be called on again to work above and beyond for our health service during what will be the busiest winter period it might see yet.
“The very least the Department of Health can do is to recognise these efforts by implementing the 2020/21 pay uplift in a timely fashion.”
In April, minister
Robin Swann said a 2020/21 award fully established pay parity with England.
A Department of Health spokesperson said: “The minister wants those on the health and social care frontline in Northern Ireland to be properly rewarded for their work and commitment.
“He is also keen to see this year’s pay award for doctors and dentists resolved more quickly than has been the case in recent years. Decisions on public sector pay awards are taken in the context of the annual public sector pay policy set by the Department of Finance.”
Meanwhile, the Department of Health yesterday reported no further Covid-19 related deaths.
According to the most recent dashboard update, there have been two confirmed cases of the virus in the past 24-hour reporting period.
The DOH death toll in Northern Ireland stands at 556 and the total number of positive tests is 5,859.
Figures released by the department on Tuesday also indicated that 130,161 individuals have been tested for the infection since the beginning of the pandemic.
The death toll figures differ from the NISRA stats which last Friday stated that as of week July 3 to July 10 a total of 844 people had died with Covid-19 named on the death certificate.
A TOP Government scientist has poured cold water on Boris Johnson’s pledge of a return to normality by Christmas.
SAGE expert Sir Jeremy Farrar rubbished the Prime Minister’s optimistic suggestion the UK could see a “significant return” to normal life by the end of the year.
The director of the Wellcome Trust warned the UK will be living with coronavirus for decades.
He told the Commons health select committee: “Things will not be done by Christmas.
“This infection is not going away. It’s now a human endemic infection and even if we have a vaccine, or very good treatments, humanity will still be living with this virus for very many years to come.”
Another expert, Professor Sir John Bell of Oxford University, said the idea that coronavirus could be eliminated completely was “not realistic” and the disease is “here forever”.
However, Health Secretary Matt Hancock revealed he was an “optimist” about getting a vaccine before the end of the year.