LONDON (Reuters) -Ambulance staff and others health workers represented by the Unison union in England have voted to accept a 5% wage increase proposed by the government to end strike action, the union said on Friday, saying it was was the best pay deal available.
Almost three quarters of health service workers in England voted to accept the offer, while Scottish workers have also accepted a deal there.
“Clearly health workers would have wanted more, but this was the best that could be achieved through negotiation,” Unison head of health Sara Gorton said in a statement.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s government has been dealing with pay disputes involving hundreds of thousands of striking public workers as wages fail to keep up with double-digit inflation.
Last month the government and healthcare unions agreed on a pay proposal with a 5% pay increase for the coming year, with three healthcare unions including Unison urging members to accept it and end months of industrial action.
The Royal College of Nursing (RCN), which represents nurses, is expected to announce the outcome of its ballot later on Friday.
“The decision by members of Unison, the largest NHS union, to accept the pay offer recommended by their leadership demonstrates that it is a fair and reasonable proposal that can bring this dispute to an end,” a government spokesperson said.
(Reporting by Muvija M and Alistair Smout; Editing by Susan Fenton and Angus MacSwan)
