Supporting members in their professional and working lives

2022 was dominated by efforts by the CSP and other NHS health unions and their members to secure fair pay in the NHS

Organising on NHS pay

Despite huge workplace pressures, members delivered fantastic results in the industrial ballots in Scotland, Wales and England, giving a firm foundation for strike action in 2023. The commitment of reps was crucial to this success. In addition, work on pay has also strengthened the union locally, as our organising team has taken opportunities presented by the high number of member meetings and heightened engagement of members to recruit workplace reps.

Reps’ training and development

14 607 Eligible members voting in strike ballots in 2022 in Scotland, Wales and England*

The CSP returned in 2022 to in-person training. To develop reps’ skills to better support members in the workplace, we:

Launched a new online safety reps independent learning course.
Launched a new blended stewards’ induction course.
Ran a new stewards induction stage two course, focussing on skills-based learning.
Returned to our in-person ‘regional training days’, improving reps’ skills and knowledge on representing members around sickness absence and how to recognise and tackle discrimination in the workplace.
Supported and empowered new workplace reps through several online organising clinics, supporting 700 attendees across the year.

Scotland

44 000 Emails from members which the CSP enquiries team responded to in 2022

Through NHS Scotland partnership and negotiating groups – on which the CSP has a seat – we have influenced on guidance on working at Christmas when it is a weekend; the Scottish government’s equalities work; a digital strategy for NHS Scotland; climate strategy; and a national care service. We raised the profile of the CSP and our campaigns to defend rehab space at the Scottish Trades Union Congress (STUC) and equality at the STUC LGBT workers conference.

Wales

Stewards in Aneurin Bevan University Health Board fought hard to ensure physios in the workplace had a space where they could perform admin tasks, eat lunch, and take breaks. Members were having to sit on the floor and in corridors to eat lunch.

In addition, through the work of the Wales reps race equality group, we have significantly increased the ethnic diversity of our steward and rep network in Wales.

CSP Wales also negotiated and agreed a national uplift to the mileage rate of reimbursement during the peak in
petrol prices.

Northern Ireland

41 members supported through HCPC cases by CSP senior negotiating officers

The CSP contributed to improved disciplinary and grievance policies. The latter now includes a status quo clause, meaning rules and practices that led to a grievance remain in place until the dispute resolution procedure have been resolved, a protection against management attempts to impose changes to terms and conditions.

We attended the all-island Women’s Conference of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions and the Northern Ireland committee of the ICTU conference, where we presented two motions on equality issues.

01 December 2023

01 Dec 2023