Unison members vote to accept Scottish Government pay offer

Members of Scotland’s largest NHS union, Unison, have voted to accept the Scottish Government’s pay offer.

In a digital ballot where 54.0% of eligible members voted, 78.5% accepted the offer.

Another union, GMB Scotland, accepted the pay offer earlier in the week.

The pay offer – which was made to 160,000 NHS staff, including nurses, midwives and paramedics – equates to an average 6.5% increase in 2023/24.

It also includes the commitment to modernising Agenda for Change, which is nearly 20 years old, to support workforce recruitment, sustainability and retention.

Unison Scotland’s health committee chair Wilma Brown said: “While acceptance of this pay offer removes the spectre of industrial action, there is no room for complacency.

“This deal does nothing to solve the NHS Scotland staffing crisis.

“Government commitments to review the working week, deliver fair wage rises on promotion and tackle the workforce crisis must make rapid progress.

“They must also be backed up with new money to ensure patients and staff get the NHS they deserve.”

The union’s head of health Matt Mclaughlin said: “This deal was agreed after intensive talks between the government, unions and employers.

“There’s now a need to get back around the table to sort out the staffing crisis in Scotland’s NHS.

“Patients are waiting too long for routine operations and staff are working under unacceptably stressful conditions.

“Unison has agreed to go straight back into talks with the government to review nursing, reduce staff vacancies and look again at NHS pay structures.

“The NHS needs to be made fit for purpose so staff can provide a world-class service.”

Published: 18/03/2023 by Radio NewsHub