10 September 2003

Nursery Nurses condemn 'misleading' Bosses' Briefings

UNISON, the union representing the majority of Scotland's local authority nursery nurses, today expressed its disappointment that the employer CoSLA is pre-empting its meeting with trade unions on Friday by briefing on a supposed offer for nursery nurses.

Joe Di Paola, UNISON's Scottish Secretary for Local Government said:

"The £18,000 figure for nursery nurses being mooted around by CoSLA today is disingenuous, and misleading. And its disappointing that CoSLA is pre-empting Friday's meeting with letters to MSPs and MPs when they should be talking to their employees the nursery nurses.

"This is not yet an offer. All UNISON has been formally shown to date is the Report of CoSLA's Nursery Nurses Technical Working Group, and we are hoping that any formal offer made on Friday improves on this Report".

The proposals in the Technical Working Group fail to meet the nursery nurse demands on a number of levels:

• CoSLA fail to indicate who decides a nursery nurse is ‘fully qualified and competent' and meets the £18,000 top line.
• CoSLA admits it cannot make councils implement the proposals,
• It fails to deliver a progressive career structure for nursery nurses,
• Most nursery nurses working in schools and classes will be paid under £15,000.

Carol Ball, Chair of UNISON's Nursery Nurses Working Group and herself a nursery nurse, said:

"Under the CoSLA report the majority of nursery nurses will be earning under £15,000, which does not meet our pay and grading claim, nor take into account the 15 years of underpayment and increasing roles of nursery nurses. We truly hope that CoSLA will be offering something better than this when we meet on Friday".

A major rally is taking place on Saturday at Glasgow Green in support of Scotland's nursery nurses. Unless CoSLA can come up with an acceptable offer to meet the nursery nurses pay and grading claim, further strike action is planned across Scotland to take place next week on either Tuesday and Wednesday (16 and 17 September) or Wednesday and Thursday (17 and 18 September) depending on the locality.

ENDS

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