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Unison, the UK’s largest union, is balloting over 350,000 NHS employee members working for more than 250 health trusts and boards across England, Wales and Northern Ireland on strike action.
It is asking the government to build upon the rise of £1,400 awarded to health workers in England earlier in the summer as a second wage increase would better protect staff against the ravages of inflation. It would also help the NHS hold on to the many leaving for more lucrative, less challenging jobs elsewhere.
Strike action is “the last thing” health workers want
UNISON general secretary Christina McAnea said: “Striking is the last thing dedicated health workers want to do. But with services in such a dire state, and staff struggling to deliver for patients with fewer colleagues than ever, many feel like the end of the road has been reached.
“The NHS is losing experienced staff at alarming rates. Health workers are leaving for work that pays better and doesn’t take such a toll on them and their families. If this continues, the health service will never conquer the backlog and treat the millions desperately awaiting care.”
Make the NHS the priority ministers say it is
She added that it felt like the NHS is in the last chance saloon and a vote for strike action might be the jolt that convinces ministers to make the NHS the priority they say it is.
Hundreds of thousands of ballot papers are being posted out today (Thursday). The union is urging health workers to return them promptly to overcome the strict laws on turnout put in place by a previous Conservative government to make industrial action more difficult, it adds.
Other unions either balloting or planning to ballot for industrial action in the NHS include the Royal College of Nursing, the Royal College of Midwives, the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy, GMB and Unite.
