NHS workers in Wales vote to strike over pay
This article is old - Published: Monday, Oct 20th, 2014
UNISON’s NHS workers in Wales have voted overwhelmingly to take strike action over this year’s pay offer, in a formal ballot that closed today.
Nurses, occupational therapists, porters, paramedics, medical secretaries, cooks and healthcare assistants were among those balloted.
The vote was in response to the decision by the Welsh health minister to ignore the NHS Pay Review recommendations for a 1% pay rise, instead, a one-off non-consolidated payment of £160 was offered to all staff.
The result follows last week’s industrial action by UNISON’s NHS members in England, who staged a four-hour strike on Monday followed by action short of strike action for the remainder of the week.
The result of the ballot is as follows:
Are you prepared to take part in a strike? YES: 77.1% NO: 22.9%
Are you prepared to take part in action short of strike action? YES: 90.4% NO: 9.6%
UNISON Regional Secretary in Wales Margaret Thomas said:
“Our members working in the Welsh NHS have sent a clear message that they are worth more than a miserly £160. “Health workers have seen their pay drop by as much as 10% since 2010, and yet these same workers subsidise the Government every week by working thousands of hours of unpaid overtime.
“NHS workers in Wales have spoken loud and clear and it is time for the Welsh Government to come to the table and negotiate a fair pay deal for our members.”
“UNISON’s Health Committee will consider the ballot result and their response later this week. We will be having discussions about how any potential action in Wales could be coordinated with future action taken on pay in England.”
image: express.co.uk
