Health staff strike vote over pay
Updated on 23 April 2007
The Government will face a twin threat on Monday over its health service policies when unions call strike ballots among hundreds of thousands of health workers.
Unison and the Society of Radiographers are poised to agree ballots for industrial action in a bitter row over pay.
Both unions are holding annual conferences and delegates are gearing up to attack the Government's policies over the NHS.
Unison's health workers' conference in Brighton is expected to agree a ballot among 450,000 health workers in protest at the government's controversial decision to stage a 2.5% pay award.
The union protested that the decision to pay the 2.5% in two stages, from this month and in October, had reduced the value of the award to 1.9%.
Karen Jennings, Unison's head of health, said the mood of health workers was growing angrier by the day and she was in no doubt that a strike ballot would be held. "If there is no movement from the Government over pay, it is quite clear we will be balloting our members and we are pretty sure we will get the response we anticipate," she said.
Unison represents nurses, ambulance crews, paramedics, occupational therapists and clerical staff, covered by a pay review body whose decision to award the 2.5% pay rise in one go was overturned by ministers.
Low-paid ancillary staff such as cleaners and porters have also been told they will receive a staged pay rise which Ms Jennings said was an "insult".
Other health workers are expected to ballot their members, bringing the prospect of industrial unrest across the NHS at the time of Tony Blair's departure from office.
The Society of Radiographers, which represents 16,000 radiography staff, is also holding its annual conference in Brighton and delegates are expected to express anger over the staging of their pay award.
These news feeds are provided by an independent third party and Channel 4 is not responsible or liable to you for the same.
