Today, thanks to the efforts of you and your colleagues, the government has finally improved its offer on your pay.
UNISON members showed immense courage in taking four days of strike action, planning for the biggest day of action yet, building momentum in every corner of the country and maintaining incredible public support throughout it all. It’s your resilience that finally forced the government to the negotiating table. And what happens next will be your decision.
Together with unions from across the NHS, we have spent the last two weeks in talks to secure you a pay offer that properly protects, recognises and rewards the whole workforce. The NHS is one team, and every role that you and your colleagues have is essential in providing excellent patient care.
After intensive talks, the government’s offer to you now is a significant improvement on the 72p an hour you were awarded last summer:
- An additional one-off lump sum for 2022/23 which rises in value up the NHS pay bands. To provide a range, this is worth £1,655 for staff on Band 2 (over 8%), £2,009 for staff at the top of Band 5 and £3,789 for staff at the top of Band 9.
- A permanent 5% pay rise on all pay points for 2023/24.
An increase to Band 2, raising the lowest pay point in the NHS to £11.45 an hour – 55p higher than the real Living WageUNISON is a member-led union, so it will be up to you and your colleagues to decide whether to accept this offer.
Your elected representatives on UNISON’s lead NHS committee have carefully reviewed this offer and their recommendation is clear: that you accept. We are in no doubt that if it is not accepted, the government will take this offer off the table and the pay award NHS staff receive will be much worse.
Very soon you will be asked to vote in a consultation. You will be given every piece of information you need to make this decision, including seeing exactly what the lump sum and the pay rise mean for you on your pay point.
The strike action that was planned for Monday will not go ahead, and there will be no further strike action for the duration of the consultation.
We would not be where we are today without your extraordinary determination in demanding that the government come back to the negotiating table and make a better offer.
Please vote in the consultation when it launches soon.
