Now 100,000 MORE NHS workers could strike this winter over No10’s ‘miserable’ 4% pay bump offer – a day after nursing union announced ballot
- Unite is balloting its NHS members over whether to strike on No10’s pay increase
- Union said the 4% increase for staff in middle pay bands is a ‘massive pay cut’
- Follows Royal College of Nurses announcing its ballot to 465,000 members
Around 100,000 NHS workers in England and Wales are being balloted to see if they want to strike over pay this winter.
Unite has started to ballot its health service members to vote for industrial action over the Government’s ‘miserable’ salary offer announced last month.
The union said the 4 per cent increase for staff in middle pay bands is a ‘massive pay cut’ because of soaring inflation — which is forecast to hit 13 per cent later this year.
It will consult its NHS members, including nursing assistants and hospital cleaners, on whether they accept the ‘imposed deal’ or want to challenge it with.
Union bosses claim they will back the members ‘whatever they decide’, setting them up for strikes as the health service comes under pressure this winter.
The move comes after the Royal College of Nursing also started asking its 465,000 members if they want to strike over the pay increase.
And the British Medical Association, which represents 160,000 doctors, claimed industrial action is ‘inevitable’.
Unite is recommending its health service members vote for industrial action over the Government’s ‘miserable’ pay offer last month. Pictured: Unite general secretary Sharon Graham
The Bank of England has predicted that inflation will reach 13% in the coming months
Nurses will start voting next month on whether to strike over pay in what is being described as a ‘defining moment’ for the profession.
The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) said it will be recommending hundreds of thousands of its members support industrial action in a ballot that opens in mid-September.
The postal ballot will ask RCN members working for the NHS in England and Wales on Agenda for Change contracts if they will take strike action which involves a complete withdrawal of labour.
It will open on Thursday September 15 for four weeks and members support strike action, it will be the first ever strike by RCN members in England or Wales.
Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: ‘This offer is nothing other than a massive national pay cut for NHS staff.
‘After everything they have been through with the Covid pandemic and the service this workforce gives this country day in, day out, this is a kick in the teeth from the Government and an insult to staff and patients alike.
‘This ballot is a chance for our members to have their say, and, whatever they decide, they will have the full backing of their union, Unite.’
The Unite ballot closes on September 11 in England and September 15 in Wales.
Colenzo Jarrett-Thorpe, Unite’s national officer for the NHS, said: ‘For the Government to demand that even this insulting pay offer is funded through existing NHS money is an appalling, irresponsible move.
‘The health service is already at breaking point and needs urgent investment to stave off collapse, but we also need to reward staff properly.
‘There are already 40,000 vacancies across the NHS. This dreadful pay offer will only make it far harder to recruit and retain staff.’
In Wales, the ballot closes on Friday September 15.
Richard Munn, Unite’s lead officer for the NHS in Wales, said: ‘Our members working in the NHS in Wales are totally fed up.
‘They’ve given everything to help care for people through this extremely testing time, only to be told it is yet another cut to their pay.
‘We understand the constraints on Welsh Government in terms of funding but more needs to be done to improve the pay of NHS workers.
‘An improved pay offer is crucial to acknowledge what our members do, and to both recruit and retain staff.’
Nurses will start voting next month on whether to strike over pay in what is being described as a ‘defining moment’ for the profession
The RCN will also be recommending hundreds of thousands of its members support industrial action in a ballot that opens in mid-September.
The postal ballot will ask RCN members working for the NHS in England and Wales on Agenda for Change contracts if they will take strike action which involves a complete withdrawal of labour.
It will open on Thursday September 15 for four weeks.
If its members support strike action, it will be the first ever strike by RCN members in England or Wales.
The college went on strike for the first time in its history in Northern Ireland in 2019.
The RCN also announced it has increased its industrial action strike fund to £50million, up from £35million, to provide financial support towards lost earnings during strikes.
The college has called for a pay rise for nursing staff of 5 per cent above inflation, which is currently 11.8 per cent.
Meanwhile, Professor Banfield last month threatened the BMA’s 160,000 doctors could walk out on strike in the spring because they feel ‘angry, frustrated and undervalued’.
If all three strikes were to occur, up to 725,000 workers could go out on strike, more than half the NHS’s 1.4million workforce.
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