Pay in the NHS has not kept in line with inflation and staff have not received a pay rise higher than inflation since 2009.
UNISON is urging members in the health pay ballot taking place in England to vote ‘yes’ for both strike action and action short of strike.
But equally, the union is urging all members to use their vote, whatever their view, to make sure we have a high turn out in the ballot.
If we get a ‘yes’ vote we will be fighting:
- for immediate payment of the Pay Review Body recommended 1% on all hourly rates and the living wage of £7.65 an hour as minimum;
- to break the planned pay freeze for 2015-16;
- for a commitment to cost-of-living pay increases for the future.
What branches can do
Members in England will get their ballot papers week beginning 25 August and we know from previous campaigns that most members vote in the early days after the ballot opens.
Branches need to focus on running “vote yes to taking action” campaigns to make sure that we receive the highest turnout in the ballot.
You can do this in a number of ways
Plan your ‘vote yes’ campaign
Branches can carry out a number of actions including workplace meetings, floor walking, workplace stalls, all-member emails, newsletters to encourage members to vote yes.
Order material
UNISON is producing a range of campaign and support materialwill be a number of materials that branches can order (from the week beginning 28 July) including ‘vote yes’ for action stickers, posters and leaflets.
You will be able to order these via the UNISON online catalogue and they will be listed on rhe resources section of the pay campaign web pages, alongside other material including previous leaflets and info graphics
Nominate a pay champion
NHS pay champions will support branch secretaries to get the message out.
Alongside stewards and branch activists, they will play a crucial role in talking to members, getting non-members to join UNISON and making sure the ballot turn-out is a priority.
UNISON would like every branch to nominate one pay champion each.
