Large pay rises for regraded medical secretaries

Hundreds of women working as medical secretaries in the North East are to benefit from significant pay rises following industrial action by UNISON.

In the latest deal reached by the union, 136 medical secretaries at the City Hospitals Sunderland NHS Trust - all of whom are women - will get an increase of between £500 and £1,100 per year as a result of being regraded. The victory came after strike action by the secretaries over the past three weeks.

The women voted to accept the offer of regrading earlier this month. UNISON officer Trevor Johnston said: "The deal on offer was the deal we wanted. We are delighted with the outcome."

A further 72 medical secretaries in South Tyneside, 94 in South Durham and 130 in Northumbria have also won their regrading cases as part of UNISON's regional campaign to get the women paid fairly for the work that they do. Medical secretaries in Carlisle were regraded last year, giving an impetus to the campaign for workers in other Trusts.