YES - Tricia Pritchard, senior professional officer, ProfessionalAssociation of Nursery Nurses
My association strongly believes pay and conditions should be negotiatednationally. The fact that there are no national salary scales allowsmany employers almost to pay what they wish. Nursery nurses feelundervalued and under-rewarded. A nationally agreed salary would ensurethat we keep these highly professional people in childcare andeducation, and also attract highly motivated people in the future.
NO - Mike Walker, director of negotiations, Employers' Organisation Werecently rejected a claim for national rates for support staff inschools, so would argue the same for nursery nurses. In 1997, we removednationally prescribed grades for a number of reasons. Job design andcontent is decided locally, as is assessment of recruitment andretention. But, most significantly, equal pay claims are tested againsteach employer. Employers needed to carry out a review at a local leveland only those reviews can deal with all these factors successfully.
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