Two unions call off NHS strike action and accept latest pay deal
Strikes by ambulance staff and some NHS workers are off after Unison and Unite members voted to accept the Scottish Government's final offer
Health workers at two unions have voted to accept the Scottish Government’s latest pay offer, meaning planned strike action has been called off.
Members of Unison, who had been urged by the union to accept the deal, voted 57% in favour.
64% of Unite members who voted backed accepting the offer.
Following negotiations with Health Secretary Humza Yousaf and the intervention of First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, the new deal would mean NHS workers in Scotland would remain the best paid in the UK, and workers would get pay rises ranging from £2,205 to £2,751.
For the lowest paid it would be a rise of 11.3%, with an average rise of 7.5%.
Walkouts by other unions could still go ahead
But despite Unite and Unison's votes for the deal, other walkouts are still being threatened, including from the Royal College of Nursing and Royal College of Physiotherapists which are still to decide on the offer.
Sharon Graham, the general secretary of Unite, said the offer was as a result of "the resolve of our members", adding: "They were prepared to take the difficult step in taking industrial action but only because they had no other option left.
"Unite makes no apologies for fighting for better jobs, pay and conditions in the health service because NHS Scotland workers should be fairly rewarded for the outstanding work that they do day in and day out."
Deal is "the best that could be done under the circumstances"
While the union's lead negotiator for NHS Scotland, James O'Connell, said: "We believe that the improved offer was the best that could be negotiated under the present circumstances.
"It was ultimately up to our NHS membership to consider whether the offer was acceptable which they have now judged it to be by 64%."
The threat of strike action, however, "should be a warning to the Scottish Government", Mr O'Connell added.
"No longer can they take NHS workers for granted and platitudes are not sufficient," he said.
"Words need to be backed up by action and the threat of industrial action didn't need to be on the cards if the workers were made a fair offer in the summer.
Unison's health committee chair Wilma Brown said her union's vote was "not a win for the Government - it is a warning".
"It was far from a unanimous decision and many of the NHS professional grades feel badly let down," she said.
"Almost half of Unison NHS staff voted to reject this latest pay offer, and many who did vote to accept, did so reluctantly.
"A staffing crisis in the NHS"
"There is a staffing crisis in the NHS. The health service is consistently understaffed and under-resourced and every day staff are expected to deliver more with less.
"We have the highest job vacancy rates, the longest waiting lists and longest waiting times since records began.
"The Cabinet Secretary has secured himself a pause in our members' anger. He now needs to use the next pay round to resolve the under staffing, low staff morale, and pay."
The RCN ballot will close on December 19, but it is not clear when a result will be announced.