UNISON NHS members in England accept government’s pay offer

UNISON members have accepted the government’s pay offer for NHS workers in a ballot that closed today.

The results are:

Votes to accept: 67 per cent
Votes to reject and take further action: 32 per cent

UNISON head of health, Christina McAnea, said:

“Our members have voted to accept this offer. Although it does not go far enough, it is an improvement and it will make a difference particularly to over 250,000 of the lowest-paid in the NHS.

“By ignoring the recommendations of the NHS Pay Review Body for England, the government forced health workers to take strike action over pay for the first time in 34 years.

“I’m proud of the fact our members were prepared to take strike action without compromising patient care. Their industrial action has forced the government to negotiate with us and sent a warning that NHS workers will not sit back and do nothing when their standard of living is attacked.

“We are calling on any government elected in May to develop a pay strategy that rewards health workers fairly for the demanding jobs they do, and ensures the NHS can continue to recruit and retain a high quality workforce.

“The current state of pay in the NHS means many workers rely on unsocial hours payments to make ends meet. We know this government wants to cut these.

“The industrial action over the last six months should be a warning to ministers that our members will not accept further cuts.”