This article is from the source 'bbc' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-65425285

The article has changed 6 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 1 Version 2
Unite union votes to reject NHS pay offer GMB union accepts NHS pay offer but Unite rejects
(about 3 hours later)
Members of the Unite union in England - mostly ambulance workers and junior health staff - have rejected the latest NHS pay offer. Members of the GMB union - including thousands of ambulance workers and other health staff across England - have voted yes to the latest NHS pay offer.
The turnout was 55%, with just over half voting against the offer of a 5% wage rise this year and a cash payment for last year. The result means it is highly likely that a majority of the NHS Agenda for Change workforce has backed the deal.
Planned strikes in England at hospitals and ambulance trusts will go ahead next week. That is despite the Unite union, declaring earlier that its members had rejected the offer.
Results from other unions on the same pay offer are mixed. Some RCN and Unite strikes will go ahead in the coming days.
Members of the largest NHS union, Unison, have voted to accept the offer. GMB is expected to announce its vote result later today. The GMB results follows yes votes by unions representing midwives and physiotherapists earlier this week.
Nurses with the Royal College of Nursing have already turned down the offer and they plan more strike action, starting on Sunday at 20:00 BST in England. Some of the smaller unions, representing dieticians and prison health staff, have yet to declare.
Members of the Royal College of Midwives, meanwhile, have accepted the offer. But union sources say it is "almost certain" that at a meeting of the NHS Staff Council the deal will be ratified, prompting the government to sanction the 5% pay increase and one-off payment.
Rachel Harrison, GMB national secretary, said the union would now vote to accept the offer at Tuesday's meeting of the NHS Staff Council.
She added: "Our members recognise that progress has been made - from the Government originally offering nothing, health workers will be thousands of pounds better off.
"It also meets a key GMB demand of a huge pay uplift for the lowest paid, lifting them above the Real Living Wage.
"But so much more needs to be done for workers if we are all to get the NHS we need."
The turnout for GMB was 51% of members, with 56% of those accepting the deal.
The same pay offer was made to all NHS staff on Agenda for Change contracts - which include most workers apart from doctors, dentists and senior managers.
Unison, the largest NHS union, which represents ambulance crews, and a smaller number of other staff including nurses, has voted to accept the offer. Members of the Royal College of Midwives have also accepted the offer.
Meanwhile nurses with the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) have already turned down the offer and they plan more strike action, starting on Sunday at 20:00 BST in England.
Nurses' strike to be cut short after court ruling
When are nurses and ambulance workers striking?When are nurses and ambulance workers striking?
Nurses' strike in England to be cut short after court ruling Local strikes involving Unite members who are ambulance workers in Yorkshire will happen on Monday, with the south of England and West Midlands following on Tuesday.
Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: "Unite was clear from the start it was very unlikely this offer would be accepted. 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 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 per cent."
Strikes involving ambulance workers in Yorkshire will happen on Monday, with the south of England and West Midlands following on Tuesday.
Industrial action will also take place in some hospitals in London, Manchester, Lancashire and the West Midlands.Industrial action will also take place in some hospitals in London, Manchester, Lancashire and the West Midlands.
What does this mean for the NHS pay dispute?
The yes vote from the GMB is significant. There are 14 unions being asked to approve the pay deal - and the biggest two are split, with the Royal College of Nursing voting against it and Unison voting for it.
The next biggest are Unite and GMB among the NHS workforce on the Agenda for Change contract.
By the GMB giving the backing to the pay deal after Unite's rejection it means it is likely a majority of the workforce will be in favour of the offer which will trigger the government to pay out.
This will not be confirmed until Tuesday when the unions meet ministers at the NHS Staff Council.
But given the midwives and physiotherapists have also backed it along with a majority of the smaller unions representing groups like eye specialists and occupational therapists it is thought to be enough for the NHS Staff Council to ratify it, according to sources close to the NHS Staff council.
Will that bring an end to the NHS pay dispute? The RCN is still free to re-ballot its members to get another strike mandate - and it has said it will once this weekend's walkout is over.
But that vote will be taking place just as nurses are getting a pay rise and a four-figure one-off lump sum.
What is more, the way the vote is being organised - a national ballot rather than series of local workplace ballots - means it will be harder for the RCN to get over the threshold needed for strike action to take place.
This deal does not directly affect the dispute with junior doctors - they are on a different contract.
But it certainly puts pressure on the British Medical Association if many lower paid NHS staff are willing to accept a pay that gets nowhere near its 35% pay claim.
Related TopicsRelated Topics
NHS crisisNHS crisis