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Unite members reject latest pay offer for NHS workers in England Unite members reject latest pay offer for NHS workers in England
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NHS workers from Unite union vote to turn down latest government pay offerNHS workers from Unite union vote to turn down latest government pay offer
Members of Unite have rejected the government’s pay offer to health workers in England, the union has announced. A leading health union has rejected the government’s improved pay offer to NHS staff, raising the prospect of prolonged strikes and disruption to health services.
Members voted by 52% against the offer of a 5% wage rise this year and a cash payment for last year. The turnout was 55%. Members of Unite working in the NHS in England voted by 52% to 48% to turn down a deal that would have given them higher than originally expected pay rises for last year and this.
Unite said the result showed very high figures of rejection for grades mostly in frontline services with patients. Unite is the second big union, alongside the Royal College of Nursing, to spurn the deal that emerged from weeks of negotiations between health unions and Steve Barclay, the health secretary.
The union said seven out of 10 ambulance paramedics rejected the deal, and three-quarters of staff at the West Midlands ambulance trust rejected it. Workers at Guy’s and St Thomas’ rejected the deal by the same figure, while Yorkshire ambulance trust staff rejected it by two-thirds. “Unite was clear from the start it was very unlikely this offer would be accepted,” said Sharon Graham, Unite’s general secretary. “Unite’s members will now return to the picket line to continue their fight.” Turnout in the union’s consultative ballot was 55%.
Unite said previously announced strikes by more than 4,000 NHS workers across England who have a mandate for industrial action would go ahead. Two other smaller unions – the Royal College of Podiatry and the Society of Radiographers – have also rejected the offer. It would give NHS staff in England apart from doctors and dentists a one-off payment of between £1,250 and £2,000 for 2022-23, on top of the £1,400 they have already received – the sum that triggered a series of strikes by nurses, ambulance staff and other health workers from mid-December. It also includes a 5% rise in basic pay for 2023-24.
The general secretary, Sharon Graham, said: “Unite was clear from the start it was very unlikely this offer would be accepted. However, three other unions – Unison, the Royal College of Midwives and the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy – have accepted those terms and agreed to stop striking.
“It is quite frankly a joke that NHS workers are being forced to fight for a decent pay rise after years of pay freezes and all their sacrifices during the pandemic. The ballot results so far, including Unite’s, mean it is uncertain whether the NHS Staff Council – the 12-union body that represents more than 1 million NHS staff in England – will accept or reject the offer when it meets on Tuesday.
“The government should be delivering generous rewards for that instead of a parade of insults, bullying and lies about our industrial action. Unite will be backing our NHS members 100%. Unite’s members will now return to the picket line to continue their fight. A lot will hinge on what the GMB union does. It will disclose the results of its ballot on the award at 4pm on Friday.
Graham appealed to Rishi Sunak to resolve the NHS pay dispute. The prime minister should “take over this mess, roll his sleeves up and sort it”, she said.
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“Rishi Sunak now needs to take over this mess, roll his sleeves up and sort it.” Unite’s decision was expected as it was the only health union to reject the improved offer when it was put forward on 16 March, and it had warned last week that many members were unhappy with it. However, the proportion of members rejecting the offer was smaller than anticipated.
Members of the Royal College of Nursing also rejected the offer but health workers in other unions, including Unison, have accepted it. Unite stressed in its announcement of the ballot result on Friday that members working in frontline NHS services were most likely to reject the deal. For example, 70% of paramedics refused to accept it, including three-quarters of Unite members at the West Midlands ambulance trust.
Before publishing its ballot results, Unite had already disclosed that its members at Guy’s and St Thomas’ trust and the Yorkshire ambulance service would strike on Monday – a day on which nurses will also be carrying out a stoppage. In addition, it had said its members in the South Central, South East Coast and West Midlands ambulance services, and at the Christie cancer hospital in Manchester, the East Lancashire hospitals trust and the Sandwell and West Birmingham trust would stage a stoppage on the day after, 2 May.