Unite members vote to reject latest NHS staff pay offer - with planned strikes set to go-ahead

The union said 52% of members who took part in the vote rejected the government's offer of a five per cent pay increase - with planned strikes now set to go ahead.

James Robinson

News reporter @thejournojames

Friday 28 April 2023 14:30, UK

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Unite's national lead officer, Onay Kasab
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Members of the Unite union have rejected the latest NHS staff pay offer, it has been announced.

Just over half (52%) of members rejected the government's offer of a five per cent pay increase, with 48% voting in favour of accepting the deal.

Unite said the results of the ballot, which had a 55% turnout, revealed very high figures of rejection for grades mostly in frontline services with patients.

Planned strikes by more than 4,000 NHS workers across England will now go ahead, according to Unite.

The union represents mainly ambulance workers and junior health staff workers in the dispute - which is over pay and conditions.

Members of the largest NHS union, Unison, have already voted to accept the offer, while the GMB union is set to release the results of its ballot this afternoon.

Unite's national lead officer, Onay Kasab, told Sky News: "This is sending a clear message to the government.

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Ambulance workers on the picket line outside ambulance headquarters in Coventry, as paramedics, ambulance technicians and call handlers walk out in England and Wales, in a strike co-ordinated by the GMB, Unison and Unite unions over pay and conditions that will affect non-life threatening calls. Picture date: Wednesday December 21, 2022.
Image: Ambulance workers of the Unite union on the picket line in December last year

"The pay offer is inadequate. It doesn't deal with the pay crisis and it doesn't deal with the general crisis that is taking place in the NHS.

"It is now time for the government to accept it has to sit down, renegotiate with us, and come up with a deal that our members are prepared to accept."

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%."

The union said seven out of 10 ambulance paramedics rejected the deal, while three-quarters of staff at the West Midlands Ambulance Trust voted it down.

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Workers at Guys and St Thomas' in London also rejected the deal by the same figure, while Yorkshire Ambulance Trust staff rejected it by two-thirds.

Unite said it had put the pay offer to its members without a recommendation to accept it - because the offer did "not come anywhere near" to matching RPI inflation - which was 13.5% in March.

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It also said that the government's offer of a non-consolidated cash lump sum for 2022/23 did not constitute a pay rise.

Unite members at Guys and St Thomas' Trust and the Yorkshire Ambulance Trust will now strike on 1 May.

Members at South Central, South East Coast and West Midlands ambulance trusts alongside workers at Christies NHS Foundation Trust, Christies Pathology Partnership, East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust and Sandwell and West Birmingham NHS Trust will strike on 2 May.

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