Nursing union opinion split on 5.5% pay rise
Members of all but one nursing union in England have now voted to accept a 5.5% pay rise, while midwives in Wales have taken a stand against their deal.
Over the summer, ministers in the two countries announced that Agenda for Change staff would receive a 5.5% pay deal for the 2024-25 financial year, following recommendations from the NHS Pay Review Body.
“Long hours… heavy workloads and staffing shortages [are] all impacting on the health, safety and morale of staff”
Julie Richards
After details of the award were published, unions representing nursing staff began consultations, asking members to vote on whether they approve it.
This pay deal is being implemented regardless of union approval, however; increases are expected in nursing staff pay packets in October and November for England and Wales respectively.
In England, Unite, GMB, Unison and Royal College of Midwifery (RCM) members, in the consultative ballots, voted in favour of approving the award.
GMB’s ballot result was the most recent to be returned, the result being published on Monday (7 October). More than 60% of those who took part in the ballot voted in favour of the 5.5% pay rise.
National secretary Rachel Harrison said: “The pay review body recommendation was the first above-inflation pay rise for NHS workers in more than a decade.
“GMB now urges the government to implement the pay award in full – including agreeing the funded mandate to refresh the Agenda for Change pay and terms structure that many NHS workers are contracted under.”
The same pay offer was given to staff in Wales and and RCM Wales revealed yesterday (8 October) that its members had narrowly voted to reject the deal, with 56% saying it was “unacceptable”.
RCM Wales director Julie Richards said members had made their “voices clear”, and that the workforce did not feel the pay award recognised “the reality of midwives’ and midwifery support workers’ working lives”.
She added: “Long hours… heavy workloads and staffing shortages [are] all impacting on the health, safety and morale of staff, which ultimately impacts the quality of the care that can be delivered.
“This is the message we will be taking to the Welsh Government and into workplaces where we want to see real change on the issues facing midwives and [midwifery support workers] such as limiting those excess hours and reducing burnout, tackling unpaid overtime, job evaluation and ensuring that banding outcomes reflect job content.”
Ms Richards further criticised the delay in this pay increase, which was supposed to be implemented in April, and called on the government to begin the 2025-26 pay consultation process “without delay”.
Other unions’ ballots on the Wales deal are ongoing.
Back in England, RCM members voted in August to accept the pay award, prompting general secretary Gill Walton to welcome it with cautious optimism.
Gill Walton
She said: “It’s a step in the right direction. It is also a consolidated, across the board increase which the RCM had called for.
“It was really important for the RCM to understand how our members felt about this pay award so thanks to each and every member who responded to this consultation.”
Unison voted overwhelmingly in favour of the pay award in England, with 77% of members approving it.
However, the union described the pay award as merely “a start” and said it “does not meet all our aims”, such as improved progression and the lack of pay parity between NHS staff and private sector health workers.
Two-thirds of Unite members approved the deal, but the union said it would continue to push for further improvements to the Agenda for Change pay structure.
National officer for health Richard Munn father said that next year’s pay deal being on time was “essential”.
“Trust cannot be broken on this point which is crucial to the lowest paid in the NHS,” Mr Munn said.
“It is essential that the NHS does not suffer fresh cuts as, inevitably, it is our members that will end up shouldering this burden and it will be patients who ultimately suffer.”
The Royal College of Nursing (RCN)’s members, meanwhile, broke ranks in England and rejected it by a margin of around two-thirds.
RCN general secretary and chief executive Professor Nicola Ranger, following this vote, wrote to health and social care secretary Wes Streeting informing him of the result.
She said, at the time: “This outcome shows their expectations of government are far higher.
“Our members do not yet feel valued and they are looking for urgent action, not rhetorical commitments.”
