Yahoo Finance Most NHS unions in England vote to accept revised pay offer
More than a million NHS workers in England are to be given a 5% pay rise this year and a cash sum for last year after ministers and unions agreed a new pay deal.
The majority of unions representing staff on the Agenda for Change contract – which includes all NHS workers apart from doctors, dentists and senior managers – voted in favour of the offer.
The 14 unions representing staff on the contract have balloted hundreds of thousands members over the last few weeks.
Unison, GMB, the Chartered Society of Physiotherapists and the Royal College of Midwives were among those who voted to accept the offer while Royal College of Nursing and Unite voted against it.
Health Secretary Steve Barclay said he intends to implement the deal, with unions urging the Department of Health and Social Care to ensure staff see the money in their pay packets as soon as possible.
The ballot results were reported at a NHS Staff Council meeting on Tuesday where unions reported the results of their individual ballots then voted on whether the Government should implement the offer.
The majority voted in favour of accepting the government’s pay offer.
This paved way for the Department of Health and Social Care to impose the 5% pay rise for this year and a cash sum for last year.
Mr Barclay said: “I’m pleased the NHS Staff Council has voted to accept our pay offer, demonstrating that a majority of NHS staff agree this is a fair and reasonable deal.
“It is now my intention to implement this for all staff on the Agenda for Change contract and where some unions may choose to remain in dispute, we hope their members, many of whom voted to accept this offer, will recognise this as a fair outcome that carries the support of their colleagues and decide it is time to bring industrial action to an end.
“We will continue to engage constructively with unions on workforce changes to ensure the NHS is the best place to work for staff, patients and taxpayers.”
