NHS staff to take further strike action

GMB members in the NHS in England and Northern Ireland will take part in further industrial action, alongside ten other NHS unions, in the week commencing Monday 24 November 2014 in a dispute over pay. It is likely to include a four-hour stoppage and a programme of action short of a strike.

Unions taking action are GMB, Unison, Unite, UCATT, Society of Radiographers, Royal College of Midwives, POA, Managers in Partnership, British Association of Occupational Therapists, British Dietetic Association, and Hospital Consultants and Specialists Association.

There will be a meeting on Tuesday 4th November of GMB lay representatives in the NHS to plan the action and details will be announced after that meeting.

This action is a follow-up to the strike on Monday 13 October and action short of strike on 14-17 October.

GMB conducted an official ballot of 22,000 members in the NHS in England and Northern Ireland. There was overwhelming support for industrial action against the government’s and employers’ pay policies.

The pay offer is an unconsolidated 1% pay award in 2014 restricted to staff not eligible for incremental progression, and the same approach in 2015. This goes against the recommendation of the independent NHS Pay Review Body for a 1% consolidated pay rise for all staff.

GMB will now issue the necessary formal notices to NHS employers.

Rehana Azam, GMB National Officer for the NHS, said: "For a second week NHS staff will be taking industrial action over pay. We regret having to inconvenience NHS users again, but the intransigence of the government and employers leaves us no choice.

This dispute arose when the government overruled the independent NHS Pay Review Body which had recommended an across-the-board pay rise. Health workers have already endured several years of pay freezes and caps. They are understandably angry and frustrated at the cavalier way they have been treated.

The planned action will undoubtedly cause widespread disruption to NHS services. However, we are sending formal notification of this action to all affected NHS employers so that they can work out essential cover requirements to ensure patient safety.

We are open to talks but the Health Secretary still refuses to meet the unions. This is not the way to go about dispute resolution. Jeremy Hunt needs to get round the table and make more money available for a settlement."