NHS Strikes Could Be Set To End After GMB Becomes Latest Union To Accept Pay Deal

The long-running NHS pay dispute could be coming to an end after the GMB became the latest union to accept the government’s offer.

Tens of thousands of the union’s health workers were balloted on the offer of a 5% pay rise this year and a one-off cash payment for last year.

A total of 56% voted to accept the deal, with 44% rejecting it. The turnout was 51%.

It came just hours after Unite members voted to reject the deal.

The GMB said they would now vote to accept the deal at a meeting of the NHS Staff Council next week.

That would pave the way for the pay rise to be implemented for all health workers covered by the agreement, a move which could finally bring the dispute to an end.

Only the Royal College of Nursing and Unite are still holding out for a better offer.

Rachel Harrison, the GMB national secretary, said: “This new pay offer would not have happened without the strike action taken by ambulance and other GMB health workers. 

“Our members recognise that progress has been made – from the government originally offering nothing, health workers will be thousands of pounds better off. 

“It also meets a key GMB demand of a huge pay uplift for the lowest paid, lifting them above the real living wage.”

She added: “Today is just one step in the battle to restore NHS workers’ decade of lost earnings. 

“GMB will continue this fight, so that the NHS and ambulance workers, who serve and care for the public, finally get the fair deal they deserve.”  

A strike by the RCN, whose members rejected the pay offer two weeks ago, will still take place this weekend.