Union to ballot NHS workers for strike action after pay talks ‘break down’
Talks with the Scottish Government on a new pay deal for NHS workers have “broken down”, according to officials from the Unison union.
It said a consultative ballot on industrial action will be held after failing to see progress from a meeting with Health Secretary Jeane Freeman more than a month ago.
The union's “pay up now” campaign is calling for the three -year NHS pay deal to b e r e ne g o t i a te d i n l i g ht o f the pandemic and extra costs incurred by healthcare workers.
Discussions with the Health Secretary have been ongoing for several months.
Unison's head of health Willie Duffy said: "Unison mem
b ers are disapp ointed and angry that the Scottish Government has failed to deliver on pay for NHS workers this y e a r - d e s p i t e a s s u r a n c e s from both the Scottish Health Secretary and the First Minister.
"They are happy to praise our NHS workers and offer warm words on pay but are unable to back that up by putting money into the pockets o f o u r h a r d - wo r k i n g a n d devoted NHS staff.
"The last thing our members want to do at this time is disrupt NHS ser vices but more than a month on from our talks with Health Secretar y Jeane Freeman we are no further forward .
"The Scottish Government has failed to deliver on pay for our NHS workers and we feel we have been left with no other choice."
Tom Waterson, chairman of Unison Scotland's health committee, said: "Our dedi c a t e d NHS s t a f f h ave s u ffered real-term pay cuts over the last decade with significant extra costs over this pandemic.”