While national pay talks are only just starting, health visitors in Cym Taff (Valley of the River Taff) Health Board that serves the good people of Glamorgan are involved in a long-running strike which has seen thousands of children missing their appointments. The strike started in February in pursuit of a demand that the Board honour their own job evaluation and grading, which has seen every health visitor lose up to £9,000 a year in pay. The strike mandate only expires at the end of October. Out of 14,000 appointments only 900 were competed from March to May.

Sharon Graham, the general secretary of Unite, said: “The longer Cwm Taf health board refuse to honour the pay banding our health visitors deserve, the greater the effect this strike is having on the health care of children in Wales,”

Health visitors complain that they are only being paid as band 6 workers, despite internal job grading now matching them as a band 7 acknowledging a master’s qualification.

The union’s regional officer Paul Seppman declared: “Unite is calling on the new Plaid Cymru government in Wales to step in and end this strike, just as they promised to do in opposition. They need to tell Cwm Taf health board to pay the proper salary to our members and get them back to the homes of south Wales, ensuring children and young families across the region are
being seen when they need to be.”