Result of NHS pay ballot awaited

Nearly 500,000 Unison members have been balloted on the offer of an 8% increase over three years, which the government has threatened to cut without support.

Royal College of Nursing members are the only ones to have backed it so far, so the Unison vote is seen as crucial.

Ministers say 8% is a fair deal but critics say it amounts to a pay cut.

The RCN was the only union to recommend the offer to members and it said they had overwhelmingly supported it.

'Pay cut'

Members of other health unions, including the Royal College of Midwives, have rejected the proposed deal.

Unison made no recommendation to its members, but it is likely to ballot on industrial action if they reject the offer.

The offer would give more than one million staff a pay increase of 2.75% from April, followed by further increases of 2.4% in 2009/10 and 2.25% in 2010/11.

That would take a nurse's starting salary to just over £20,000 this year.

The offer is the highest in the public sector and is aimed at heading off the threat of NHS industrial action.

BBC health correspondent Adam Brimelow said the government had indicated that it would not renegotiate.

"It's warned that it may reduce the offer if unions don't back it. The Unison vote will be crucial," our correspondent said.

Opponents of the offer say it would amount to a pay cut because it is not in line with the rising costs of living.

In May, the GMB union, which represents 30,000 NHS staff in England and Wales, said more than 96% of its members had voted against the deal.

It was also rejected by physiotherapists and members of the union Unite.

'Fair deal'

But Dr Peter Carter, chief executive of the Royal College of Nursing, said it had recommended the proposed deal to members because it was fair, balanced and "the best deal in the public sector".

Almost 93% of nurses voted in favour.

"We worked hard to negotiate this deal for our members and it's clear from their response they want us to accept it," he said.

"Some of our lowest paid members, healthcare assistants and newly qualified nurses will be better off with a pay deal that is worth between 14% and 16%," he added.

Zena Dodgson, Unison branch secretary in Surrey, said she was fairly sure its members would reject the deal.

"Our members, I know, are particularly angry with this government," she said.

"They feel really, really disillusioned. Their standard of living hasn't improved at all, in fact it's gone back down year on year.

"Why should people devote their lives to others in the public sector and be treated so appallingly?"

Health secretary Alan Johnson said the pay deal had been constructed with "skilled and professional union negotiators".

He added: "The NHS and patients will benefit from pay stability over the next three years that will allow everyone in the service to concentrate on improving patient care even further."

Source : BBC Health News