16.04.14
Call for NHS strikes over pay is ‘no surprise’ – NHS Employers
The NHS Employers organisation has called for “meaningful” discussions after a resounding vote in favour of a ballot on industrial action by Unison healthcare members outraged at the government’s meagre pay offer.
The call-to-action comes after the government’s decision to give a 1% non-consolidated pay increase only to NHS staff at the top of their incremental scale, ignoring the recommendations in the independent Pay Review Body’s report. This has left 60% of NHS staff, without an increase this year including 70% of nurses, because they are on progression pay.
Unison is calling for a day of protest on 5 June, including lunchtime demos at workplaces across the country. The formal ballot on industrial action is likely to take place this summer, and the Unite union is also to consult its members via an indicative ballot next month.
But Dean Royles, chief executive of the NHS Employers organisation, told NHE in a statement: “I understand the frustration and anger some staff and trade unions feel over the announcement about a pay award this year. Of course I do.
“I also understand concerns that this decision on pay may impact on morale and motivation. But as an employers’ organisation we also acutely recognise the impact job losses and redundancies would have on morale and on patient care, which was the stark choice we faced when we gave our recommendations to the pay review.”
He added that the call for industrial action at a union conference was “no surprise”. However, he urged that, given the challenging times across the economy, he would prefer the unions instead to engage in “meaningful” discussions about how to come out of a period of pay restraint in sensible way.
(Unison headquarters, copyright Matt Cornock, used here under a Creative Commons licence)
According to Unison, the value of health workers’ pay has fallen between 10-14% since the coalition came to power.
Christina McAnea, Unison’s head of health, added: “We’re not asking members to strike for 1%, we’re saying strike for a pay award that starts to restore the value of your pay, fight for a living wage for all, and because a demoralised and de-motivated workforce is not good for patients.”
The vote was called yesterday at Unison’s annual health conference in Brighton, following an emergency motion to allow a ballot for industrial action, which could include a strike but also working to rule and other such actions.
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(Top image copyright secretlondon123, used here under a Creative Commons licence)