Scottish government to 'impose' pay deal on nurses

Talks between the health secretary and unions have ended without a new pay offer being made.

The Scottish government will now impose its existing offer which is worth an average of 7.5%.

Health Secretary Humza Yousaf met unions on Friday morning in a bid to avert industrial action.

Unions representing nurses and midwives rejected the latest proposed pay deal and said they were planning strikes, with dates to be announced next month.

The meeting ended at lunchtime with Mr Yousaf saying he was prepared to meet further over the festive period.

The pay increase described by the health secretary as the "best and final" offer has been accepted by Unite and Unison.

The deal was rejected by the GMB union, which represents NHS and Scottish Ambulance Service workers, as well as the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) and Royal College of Midwives (RCM).

The RCN, which has more than 30,000 NHS members in Scotland, said it was angry at the development after 82% of members who took part in a ballot rejected the offer.

The union said it would announce dates for strike action in early January.

Colin Poolman, RCN Scotland director, said: "Our members will be furious that for the second year in a row the Scottish government has chosen to ignore their voice.

"There is no doubt that our members are long overdue a pay increase for this year, but this is not the Christmas present they deserve.

"For the second year in a row, the Scottish government is ignoring them and imposing what is a real-terms pay cut."

Keir Greenaway, GMB Scotland senior organiser for Public Services, said the union was considering strike action.

"The Scottish government's imposition of the NHS pay offer - despite being rejected by thousands of front-line healthcare staff - is an attack on workers and an attempt to silence the voice of those who faced the pandemic on the frontline of our health services and are now in the grips of a cost-of-living crisis," he said.

"But our members will not be silenced. They have spoken loudly and clearly that the offer is not good enough.

"Our members will consider their next steps, but the Scottish government is forcing NHS and SAS staff onto the picket lines."

He said that further talks must be "meaningful" and that the pay offer would do nothing to stop nursing staff leaving the profession or attract the nurses of the future.

Wilma Brown from Unison, who, along with Unite had accepted the last offer, told BBC Scotland the implementation of the pay deal was "fully and gratefully received" and was overdue.

Mr Yousaf said he would now push on with the Action for Change deal which will see wages rise by an average of 7.5%, with those on the lowest pay packages seeing an increase of 11.3%.

The health secretary told BBC Scotland he did not think strikes were inevitable.

"Even those trade unions that have rejected the deal said that they were committed to continued meaningful dialogue, as am I and as has been the hallmark of these entire discussions," he said.

"I don't believe strikes are inevitable and I will do everything I can to try to avert strike action. But what I've got to be upfront and honest about is that we don't have any more money for this pay deal."

He said the government would continue talks over non-pay elements of the deal.

In a statement released after the meeting with unions, Mr Yousaf said: "Given that the majority of unions representing the majority of unionised Agenda for Change staff have accepted the pay deal, we will now move to implement this record pay deal.

"We believe it is right to get additional money into the pay packet of NHS staff in the midst of a cost of living crisis. NHS staff need the certainty of a pay uplift in this financial year, and I can only do this by implementing the deal now."

He added: "This deal is the biggest since devolution, represents an investment of over half a billion pounds and ensure our hard-working NHS staff remain the best paid in the UK."

The RCN had asked for a pay increase of at least 5% above inflation - which is currently 10.7%.

The government's pay deal was also rejected by 65% of midwives who voted in a RCM ballot. The union, which has about 3,000 members in Scotland, said it was considering industrial action.

Scottish Conservative health spokesman, Dr Sandesh Gulhane, said: "This is a deeply worrying development which points to a complete breakdown in trust between the nursing unions and Humza Yousaf.

He added: "It's time for Nicola Sturgeon to immediately restart negotiations herself with the unions to prevent these potentially catastrophic strikes going ahead."

Scottish Labour called on Mr Yousaf to resign.

Health spokesperson Jackie Baillie said: "I asked Humza Yousaf yesterday whether he would refrain from imposing a pay settlement on the NHS and he failed to answer.

"We now know why. It is clear that his plan was to impose this rejected pay deal all along."

Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton said: "This imposition by the SNP/Green government is an insult to democracy and all those staff who took the decision together to reject it.

"Nurses have gone above and beyond in recent years to keep all of us safe. They need a proper pay agreement, better working conditions and safe staffing levels."