GMB members vote to accept NHS Scotland Pay Offer

GMB members accept latest NHS Scotland pay offer by three-fifths majority 

Following the close of GMB’s consultative ballot of NHS Scotland and the Scottish Ambulance Service staff on the Scottish Government’s latest offer for Agenda for Change (AfC) staff pay and conditions, and it’s acceptance by a majority of 59.7 per cent of GMB members who voted in the ballot, GMB Scotland Senior Organiser for Public Services Keir Greenaway said:

“Three-fifths of our members have voted to accept this offer, removing the threat of strike action across NHS Scotland and the Scottish Ambulance Service this year on pay and conditions.

“Make no mistake, the strike mandates secured by our members is what pushed the Cabinet Secretary to continuously improve his proposals over the last nine months. As a result, frontline staff, and not least the lowest paid, have won significant increases to their consolidated pay and conditions.

“However, we would also warn that no one in government circles should be naïve enough to think this puts the issue of worker value back in the box. The sizeable minority of members who voted to reject the offer illustrate the point and this sends a loud and clear message on future pay offers.

“If ministers want to seriously tackle the understaffing crisis in our health service and recruit and retain the people needed to build a recovery of our broken NHS, then the bar must continue to rise for the pay and conditions of staff in the years to come.”

ENDS

Contact: GMB Scotland Senior Organiser for Public Service Keir Greenaway on 07855 017842 or GMB Scotland Communications on 07976 447077 / email: gmbscotcampaigns@gmb.org.uk