By Richard Johnstone | 3 June 2014
Trade union Unite has said it has ‘a strong mandate’ from its NHS members to reject the government’s pay offer for health service workers, a move that could lead to industrial action.
After consulting its members working in the health service over the government's 1% pay offer, which would only be given to staff if they were not already receiving an incremental increase for time served, the union said ministers must think again.
Unite’s head of health Rachael Maskell said that, following a consultative ballot on March’s offer, there was support for a campaign to get better pay for its 100,000 NHS members. If there was no response from the government, the union was prepared to move to industrial action, she said.
The plan to only offer a 1% annual increase to staff who are not getting increments was a divide and rule pay offer, Maskell added. It meant 600,000 NHS employees received no pay increase related to the cost of living on April 1.
‘It is time that Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt sat down with the unions and listened to our proposals for fair pay for the biggest workforce in this country.
‘The strong mandate we have received from our consultative ballot has given us the green light for a major campaign on fair pay for NHS staff. Unite is keen to work in partnership with other health unions and professional organisations to achieve that goal.’
A Department of Health spokeswoman said that at a time of severe funding restraint, it had ensured all staff got at least 1% in additional pay this year and next.
'We cannot afford a general pay rise on top of incremental pay increases of up to 6% without risking frontline jobs and safe staffing levels.' she added.
'We are disappointed that the unions rejected our offer to discuss any alternative proposals on pay, within an available budget of nearly £1bn. However, our door remains open if they wish to reconsider their position.'
