GMB union votes to accept NHS pay offer after Unite rejects deal
28 April 2023, 17:22
Members of the GMB union have voted in favour of the Government's pay offer to health workers.
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Tens of thousands of health workers were balloted over the offer of a 5% pay rise this year and a cash payment for last year.
A total of 56% voted to accept and 44% to reject - but there was only a turnout of 51%.
The union will now vote to accept the offer at a meeting of the NHS Staff Council next week.
It comes after Unite announced that its NHS members had voted to reject the offer.
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GMB national officer Rachel Harrison said: "This new pay offer would not have happened without the strike action taken by ambulance and other GMB health workers.
"GMB members have voted to accept the offer, which means GMB union will vote in favour of the pay offer at the NHS joint staff council meeting next week.
"Our members recognise that progress has been made - from the Government originally offering nothing, health workers will be thousands of pounds better off.
"It also meets a key GMB demand of a huge pay uplift for the lowest paid, lifting them above the Real Living Wage.
"But so much more needs to be done for workers if we are all to get the NHS we need.
"GMB now needs action for our ambulance members - starting by addressing their retirement and unsocial hours enhancement concerns.
"Today is just one step in the battle to restore NHS workers' decade of lost earnings.
"GMB will continue this fight, so that the NHS and ambulance workers, who serve and care for the public, finally get the fair deal they deserve."
Members of other unions, including Unison, have also accepted the offer, while members of the Royal College of Nursing rejected it and will strike this weekend.
