Unison suspends planned NHS strike ballot

Scotland's largest health union has suspended its strike ballot of NHS staff and is consulting on a revised pay offer.

The Scottish government made a fresh proposal on Friday that would see a hike of £2,205 per worker.

Unison has announced it will suspend plans to ballot its members on industrial action to consider the deal.

But other health unions are continuing to recommend members reject the offer and vote for strike action.

Unison, which represents 50,000 health service workers involved in the dispute, said the latest Scottish government proposal was "significantly different from the previous offers" and added it was "right that its NHS members decide whether they are willing to accept it".

The proposed Scottish government deal is for a flat rate increase per person, backdated to April.

The new offer means an average salary increase of 7% with the lowest paid gaining more than 11% and qualified nursing staff receiving up to 8.45%.

The deal affects about 154,000 employees covered by the Agenda for Change NHS pay and grading system.

This includes nurses, paramedics and allied health professionals, as well as domestic staff, porters, healthcare support staff and other frontline health workers.

Unison members will vote on the revised deal in a consultative digital ballot next week.

Wilma Brown, chairwoman of the union's health committee, said: "This is a final pay offer from the Scottish government, it is also significantly different from the previous offers, so we think it is right that NHS members decide whether they are willing to accept it."

Ms Brown warned staff in the health service were "working through two crises, an NHS crisis and a cost-of-living crisis".

She added: "This offer will go some way to helping them with the latter but we have a huge amount of work to do to get our NHS to be world class again, irrespective of the outcome of this consultation the Scottish government need to see this as the beginning of a journey back to full health for the NHS."

Health Secretary Humza Yousaf welcomed the union's decision.

He said: "These are uncertain times, and it is no secret that public finances are stretched to the limit, so I hope members will seriously consider this offer.

"This is the biggest pay offer since devolution and the money will go some way to help with the cost-of-living crisis this winter.

"For the lowest paid, this is an 11%, above-inflation pay rise, and it will ensure our nurses and other Agenda for Change staff remain the best paid in the UK."

A total of five unions - Unite, Unison, GMB, Royal College of Nursing and the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy - rejected previous pay offers.

The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) and Unite are continuing to recommend members reject the offer and vote for strike action.

Colin Poolman, RCN Scotland's director, said on Wednesday "strike action is always a last resort".

He added: "That it has come to this demonstrates just how concerned our members are for the safety of their patients, how undervalued and demoralised they are feeling and how frustrated they are at the Scottish government's continued failure to listen and act."

Unite said the offer represented even less of a wage increase than the previously rejected 5% offer for some workers.

General secretary Sharon Graham said: "Thousands of vital NHS workers have made it clear that they are prepared to take strike action in their fight for better pay.

"The Scottish government must take notice of the scale of the cost of living crisis confronting our members and take action now to ensure that NHS Scotland can make a better offer.

"Unless a deal that our members can accept is put together, the Scottish government must surely recognise that the current dispute will escalate."