The Shadow Staff Council Executive has issued the attached statement outlining the timetable which will be followed for a national rollout of AfC. This is made without prejudice to the second AfC ballot of Amicus members and the other union ballots.
It has been the firm view of Amicus that our second ballot can only take place when our members have the fullest information on the final outcome of AfC.
The current review of AfC and the Els' experience will provide that information. The review has identified pay issues that require solutions and these include compliance with the job matching procedure, clarification of the job evaluation scheme and out of hours payments.
Amicus has always emphasised to the Department of Health and the Minister that we shall create a better outcome by reviewing the timetable to ensure that we complete the AfC review and do not artificially curtail action on the review and leave the work incomplete before the second ballot.
The joint statement provides for an operational date of the 1 December 2004. This does not change the effective date for pay and terms and conditions, this remains 1 October 2004. There will therefore be a full pay backdating in December from 1 October 2004.
The work in progress and the action from the review will better inform our members for the second ballot. That is our key objective.