Welsh NHS staff prepare to strike as union rejects pay offer
Members of Unite, one of the country's leading health sector unions, have voted in heavy numbers to reject the pay award and indicated they are prepared to take industrial action demanding that the Welsh government make improvements to their pay.
Unite say 87 per cent rejected the pay award and said they were prepared to take strike action to try to achieve a better and fairer pay increase.
Sharon Graham, Unite general secretary said: "The government in Wales needs to address critical problems now. And the biggest is the pay and conditions of frontline workers without whom the NHS cannot survive.
"Workers cannot wait any longer for decent pay and better conditions. Any further exodus from the workplace will simply see the NHS in Wales fail to function. The Senedd needs to come back with an improved pay offer before it's too late."
Unite is now calling on the Welsh government to open up pay negotiations with unions. If negotiations on pay do not happen Unite said it will have "no choice" but to start the formal industrial action ballot process.
Any industrial action will affect a number of services including ambulance services where Unite has particularly high membership.
Paul Seppman, Unite lead health officer for Wales said: "Our sincere desire is to negotiate a better and much deserved pay increase for our members and NHS staff but our members are prepared to take action if there is no improved award.
"Morale in the NHS in Wales is at rock bottom. For over a decade staff have seen real terms cuts to their salaries and simply cannot take any more. The Welsh government must act now to rectify this situation."
Wrexham-based GP, Dr Peter Saul, has said the strike action would primarily affect NHS support services and the Welsh Ambulance Service.
"Support staff are just as important as clinicians," he said. "We won't be able to do our jobs without them, I think it will affect hospitals and ambulance services the most.
"The ambulance service is most vulnerable - as they'll have Unite members in roles from call handlers to paramedics.
"There are a lot of support staff in hospitals who are absolutely crucial; night porters, technical staff, cleaners, secretaries - which will affect the processing of referrals and things like that."
Geoff Ryall-Harvey, regional director for north Wales at Llais (which replaced the North Wales Community Health Council in 2023), said: "Staff don't want to strike, they never do. There will likely be a skeleton service put in place but it will definitely impact on patients.
"People who have been waiting for operations for months may face having procedures cancelled. I would urge both parties to reflect on that, and hopefully come to an agreement which avoids strike action being taken."
A Welsh Government spokesperson said: 'We recognise the strength of feeling of union members over pay and we have worked hard to address that in a very challenging financial context for Wales.
'We have accepted in full the recommendations made by the independent NHS Pay Review Body and will ensure staff receive both the pay award and back pay as quickly as possible.
'We continue to work in social partnership with all NHS Wales unions to address our shared ambition of pay restoration in the longer term.'
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