NHS workers should receive an early pay rise of 15% or £3,000, whichever is greater, according to Unite.
The union, which has 100,000 members across in the health service, also demanded that pay discussions between the government, the NHS and health trade unions start without delay.
Unite has written to the government to lodge its pay claim for the NHS workforce, saying that this claim would be an important step in the journey to restore the pay that NHS workers have ‘lost’ in the decade of austerity since 2010.
In September the union’s national health committee voted for an early and significant pay rise of 15% or £3,000, whichever is greater, to be brought forward to an earlier date than next April when the three-year pay deal comes to an end.
Unite’s claim also sends a strong message to NHS contractors, outsourcers and wholly owned subsidiaries who have taken workers out of the NHS - and those workers are very often employed on inferior pay, terms and conditions compared to their NHS counterparts.