Members of Unite have rejected the Government’s pay offer to health workers - union confirms

Unite has confirmed that the Government’s pay off for health workers has been rejected by members
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NHS workers who are a part of the Unite Union have voted to reject the latest government pay offer. This means that more health industry strikes could be on the way.

Just over half (52%) of members rejected the government’s five per cent pay offer, with 48% voting in favour. Unite’s Onay Kasab told Sky News: "This is sending a clear message to the government. 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."

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Unite union is mostly made up of ambulance workers and some other junior healthcare workers. But there are many healthcare workers and unions taking strike action across the entire industry.

Unite’s rejection comes after Members of the Society of Radiographers in England also turned down the deal, which includes a one-off payment for 2022/23 and a 5% pay rise for 2023/24.

Unison, the largest NHS union, accepted the government’s offer in early April. After a long running pay dispute. The Royal College of Midwives (RCM) confirmed Midwives across England voted to accept the government’s pay offer to NHS staff. The union confirmed  57% of its members had voted to accept the deal with a 48% turnout of voters.

The Royal College of Nursing rejected the latest pay offer from the government also. Director of Employment Relations at the RCN, Alice Sorby, said the offer was “not perfect” but acknowledged that it was “step forward from the government’s entrenched position on 2022/23 pay”. Sorby added: “It was the power of collective unions standing together, with our members behind us, that brought the government to the table and led to this improved offer.”

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The government has since won a High Court ruling against the RCN with claims that the strike action was unlawful. The judge ruled that the end date of this weekend’s walkout goes beyond the RCN’s current mandate for strike action. Pat Cullen, the union’s general secretary, confirmed the walkout will be cut short, saying it was "darkest day" of the ongoing dispute.

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