NHS Ambulance (UNITE) Strike Calendar

The vote was for members to reject the government’s pay offer that was made in a consultative ballot. The ballot was closed today (Friday, 28 April).

The offer did not match the higher settlement approved by Unite members in Scotland. For example, under the terms of the current government offer a paramedic on a band 6 in salary will earn almost £3,500 less per year than a corresponding worker in Scotland.

Striking NHS workers will now go ahead with their industrial action.

Unite communications officer Ryan Fletcher said: "Unite was clear from the start it was very unlikely this offer would be accepted. It is quite frankly a joke that NHS workers are being forced to fight for a decent pay rise after years of pay freezes and all their sacrifices during the pandemic. The government should be delivering generous rewards for that instead of a parade of insults bullying and lies about our industrial action. Unite will be backing our NHS members 100 per cent."

The government’s NHS offer ends on 28th April, and so far the known results show that members in a large number of NHS trusts are voting to reject the offer. Union representatives in those trusts with a live strike mandate will now be issuing strike notices. This was agreed at a Unite meeting today, which will herald a wave of new strikes early in May.

Members at Guys and St Thomas’ Trust in South London, and the Yorkshire Ambulance Trust, will be the first in this new wave of Unite strikes in the NHS. Unite members there will overwhelmingly reject the government offer as totally inadequate. They are also increasingly angry that the government has blatantly failed to deliver its commitment to find new money to pay for its proposals rather than robbing other health budgets.

Further, the UK government offer doesn’t even match the higher settlement approved by Unite members in Scotland. For example, under the terms of the current government offer a paramedic on a band 6 in salary in England will earn almost £3,500 less per year than a corresponding worker in Scotland.

1. Union head of operations Gail Cartmail has announced that they have agreed to pause their upcoming ambulance strikes in order to enter into talks with the government.
2. If the meeting doesn't meet these assurances, strike action will resume.

• Unite union announces 1,500 ambulance workers will strike on six extra days across February and March
• Strikes will take place on 17, 20 and 22 February and 6 and 20 March
• Unite workers will also join nurses and ambulance staff represented by the GMB striking on 6 February in the biggest NHS walkout in this dispute
• Four of the new strike dates coincide with mass walkouts of ambulance staff represented by the GMB
• Patients are warned to expect widespread disruption to services on Wednesday and Thursday due to the RCN walkout
• The government has made it clear it is not willing to move on this year's pay award
• Health Secretary Steve Barclay is exploring the option of backdating the 2023-24 rise to January
• A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said it is "disappointing some union members are going ahead with further strikes at a time when the NHS is already under huge pressure from Covid, flu and tackling the backlog."

• More than 2,600 additional ambulance workers plan to strike in late January over pay, according to the trade union Unite
• The strike will take place on 23 January and will involve more workers than the pre-Christmas strike
• Unite's members in Wales, the north-west, north-east and east Midlands will strike for 24 hours, while a strike in the West Midlands will last for 12 hours from 6am to 6pm
• Unite members working for the Welsh ambulance service will also be taking an initial day of industrial action on 19 January
• Life and limb emergency cover will be in place during the action
• The government has failed to intervene and end the dispute, according to Unite's general secretary, Sharon Graham
• Unison and the GMB Union will also be striking on Wednesday next week