UK: GMB members vote to accept govt pay offer after Unite turns down deal

A major health union has accepted the government's enhanced wage offer for NHS staff, in a decision that may cause unions to disagree on whether to continue going on strike for higher pay.The agreement agreed by all 12 health unions and the health secretary, Steve Barclay, last month has been approved by GMB members who work in the UK'sNHS by a vote of 56 per centto 44 per cent.

The NHS continues to prepare for a new nursing strike on Sunday as the GMB made its decision just hours after the plan was rejected by another union, Unite.

Thisindicates that the deal has been accepted by two of the major NHS-related unions, including Unison and the unions that represent midwives and physiotherapists.But two other unions – Unite and the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) – have rejected it, as have those representing podiatrists and radiographers, reported The Guardian.

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The NHS Staff Council, which represents all 12 unions, will meet on Tuesday to discuss and vote on the enhanced offer for both last year and this year.

The electoral college mechanism used by the staff council allocates votes according to the size of each union's membership. According to insiders in the unions who spoke to The guardian,the system and the decisions made thus far by the unions make it likely that the council will vote to approve the agreement.

But if Unite continues to strike for a better NHS deal and the RCN receives a renewed legal mandate from a vote of its members, that could cause a rift in the coalition of NHS unions.

The London-based Great Ormond Street Children's Hospital expressed "serious concerns" regarding whether it will be able to care for its patients over the weekend, many of whom are very ill. In an effort to ensure patient safety, the hospitaldeclared a "business continuity incident" on Friday.

For the first time since they started striking in December, tens of thousands of RCN nurses are anticipated to stage a 28-hour strikefrom 8 p.m. on Sunday until midnight on Monday with no exemptions for life-or-death areas of care like A&E and intensive care.

“We respect the right of our staff to take part in lawful industrial action. But after exhausting all options, at the moment we have serious concerns over how we will safely staff our hospital during the strike”,Mat Shaw, Great Ormond Street’s chief executive told The Guardian.

On May 2, the RCN was scheduled to go on strike until 8 p.m. But on Thursday, the top court in London ruled that the union's planned strike was unlawful since its mandate, which was determined by a vote last autumn, had ended on May 1.

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