Why is UNISON running an industrial action ballot in the NHS?
The NHS pay award in England is nowhere near enough. The government has imposed a £1,400 a year pay increase on you. The government is refusing to negotiate and we’ve tried everything else to make them listen. They won’t accept that this pay award will only worsen the NHS staffing crisis.
They are out of touch…
…and you are out of pocket!
When’s this all happening?
- 27th Oct – ballot opens, papers posted out
- 1st Nov – ballot hotline opens – call if missing ballot paper
- 15th Nov – deadline for new members joining to get a vote
- 21st Nov – Ballot hotline closes at noon
- 25th Nov – Ballot closes – papers must be received by this date
- 26th Nov – results issued, along with update on next steps
What would I be ‘Pledging Yes’ to?
That when your ballot paper arrives in the post in the autumn, you will return it with a YES vote for action. It is the first phase of our campaign to change the pay outcome by moving towards industrial action. It will help us build the organisation we need to deliver on the industrial action ballot and any actions as well.
We need more than 50% for our ballot to meet legal thresholds.
Why should I Pledge Yes?
- The cost-of-living crisis – the average rises below will see your household £3,400 worse off, without even considering housing and other costs.
The pay award is a substantial real-terms pay cut:
- Average household energy bills will rise from £1,971 to £3,549 with the October price cap rise, with a further rise due in January. Home energy bills will have typically risen by over £2,000 since the date of your last pay award already wiping out your £1,400 pay increase
- Food bills are expected to go up by 15-20%
- Based on today’s petrol prices, filling up the average car will cost you an extra £400 over the year, compared with 2021
- There are over 100,000 NHS vacancies including one in ten nursing posts vacant. You know the stress of understaffing, and the NHS is in the greatest workforce crisis in its history. Patients are put at risk when overstretched staff are forced to leave so they can feed their family.
- Pension contributions will be changing in October, so some of the pay award might go straight back out because most full-time staff will be paying more for their pensions.
The story so far…
- We had a clear and reasonable claim for an above-inflation award and an urgent retention package. And we had a united position behind it with 12 other health unions. We ran a joint campaign and members have done everything we asked to get the message across: marches, demos, letter writing, petitions and days of action.
- After all that neither the Pay Review Body nor the government listened. The PRB process took a lot of time, produced a 170-page report, and delivered an award that is nowhere near enough to meet the rising cost of living, or to address the growing staffing crisis engulfing the NHS.
So, we are taking a stand!
- We need your help to demonstrate that NHS staff are serious about fighting for better pay.
- Your pledge gives us a better chance of forcing the government to open negotiations.
- We can use that total strength of feeling to warn the government. We have told them we will ballot in October – and it’s your response that will make them take NHS staff seriously.
- Only with a majority of UNISON members choosing to take a stand can we improve NHS pay.
- Industrial action is always a last resort but in a situation like this it will be the only way to force the government to negotiate to resolve things.
- Industrial action is all about strength in numbers. It is a powerful way for workers like you in the NHS to stand together and put pressure on employers and the government. If at any point the government makes a meaningful attempt to open negotiations, we will take part in a constructive manner.
- Sometimes being able to show that a large number of members are ready and willing to take action can be powerful in itself to make a breakthrough. But we do need to be prepared to see it through.
- A successful ballot outcome means that if we need to take action, UNISON will be able to organise and let you know the plan for the dates, times and types of action that will take place.
- If large numbers of members pledge that they will take action, we can use this as evidence for why employers/government should talk to us now so that action can be averted.
- And if you help spread the word to others, we can make sure that when the ballot arrives enough numbers send their ballot papers back so that we can go ahead with lawful action if the government doesn’t shift.
How do I Pledge Yes?
You can Pledge Yes here: https://unison.tfaforms.net/227
Please also ensure that we have your correct details
…so that you receive your ballot paper and so that our membership return is accurate (inaccurate returns can scupper entire ballots!):
https://my.unison.org.uk/
If you are still hesitant about Pledging Yes…
Please be reassured that all unions have to organise industrial action so that it does not wilfully or maliciously endanger ‘life, limb and property’. If we take action, employers have a responsibility to make contingency plans and ensure there is emergency staffing cover to protect patient safety. There are established practices around how that is negotiated with UNISON branches.