Nurses Urged to End Strikes After UK Unions Accept Pay Deal

The UK government is pushing ahead with a pay deal for health workers despite nurses threatening another six months of walkouts.

(Bloomberg) — The UK government is pushing ahead with a pay deal for health workers despite nurses threatening another six months of walkouts.

Overall, labor groups representing staff in the National Health Service voted Tuesday to accept a 5% raise and additional bonus, following a meeting of the NHS Staff Council.

Health Secretary Steve Barclay said he hoped workers that rejected the offer “will recognize this as a fair outcome that carries the support of their colleagues and decide it is time to bring industrial action to an end.”

However, in an open letter to Barclay, the Royal College of Nursing said it would ballot 280,000 members in England for the right to hold further strikes between June and December. The RCN had already voted to reject the offer alongside some other unions including Unite.

“Nursing is the largest part of the NHS workforce and they require an offer that matches their true value,” said Pat Cullen, the RCN’s general secretary.

Britain has been hit by a year of widespread strikes as stubborn inflation resulted in workers protesting against real-terms pay cuts. Industrial action has spanned a range of sectors including the civil service, transport sector, Royal Mail, schools and universities, as well as the NHS.

“Fresh strike action will continue to be scheduled, alongside the opening of new industrial action ballots for those NHS workers who want to take a stand against the government’s despicable dismantling of our health service,” said Onay Kasab, Unite’s national lead officer.

Read More: NHS Offer Wins Major Union Backing, Setting Up Possible Deal

Doctors were not included in the offer. Matthew Taylor, chief executive of the NHS Confederation, said health bosses were keen to see a resolution of the separate dispute between medics and the government “as the last junior doctors strikes saw 196,000 appointments and planned procedures needing to be postponed.”

–With assistance from Alex Morales.

(Updates with response from the RCN in fourth and fifth paragraphs.)

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