NHS pay was top of the agenda on the second day of UNISON’s annual health service group conference in Liverpool, with all debated motions passing swiftly.
The morning opened with debate on an emergency motion submitted by the health service group executive to address the ongoing delays to NHS pay talks, acknowledging that the Westminster government’s current position on NHS pay will deliver real-terms pay cuts to workers.
The motion also criticised the role of the ‘discredited’ NHS Pay Review Body (PRB) to set the priorities for the talks, instead asserting that these should be set by workers through collective organising.
Speaking in support, one delegate declared: “We’re the largest union in the NHS. We’re the ones that are on the ground in numbers that can get pay moving.”
A speaker from UNISON Mid Yorkshire Health branch, who works as a healthcare assistant on minimum wage, said: “I’m proud to be a band 2 – band 2s are the backbone of the NHS, the Cinderella department, and we are an army ready to fight against the minimum wage imposed on us.”
The motion included the commitment to produce campaign and communication materials to ensure that activists and members understand the service group executive’s strategy for winning targeted ballots which bring government to the table for talks.
While one speaker against the motion expressed concern that UNISON branches would not reach ballot quotas, which would “take away our power”, James Anthony, who introduced the motion on behalf of the service group executive said: “Every one of us in this room will be working together to deliver those ballots. This is a democratic union, a fighting union, and I can’t wait to be out there on the picket lines with you.”
Pay bargaining
Proposing a motion on pay bargaining, Stephanie Greenwood from UNISON Northern Ireland (pictured above) called for the NHS Pay Review Body (PRB) to be ‘consigned to the history books’ and for a reinstatement of direct, centralised collective bargaining to secure pay for workers.
The motion noted that PRB recommendations do not come with guaranteed ring-fenced funding and are therefore reliant on the limitations of the Northern Ireland Executive budget.
Ms Greenwood said: “In 2024 the 5.5% pay uplift recommended by the PRB was accepted by the health minister in Northern Ireland. It was only at the end of March 2025 that our members in Northern Ireland received their pay uplift and back pay. This outcome was only achieved after protracted negotiations with the Northern Ireland Executive and the active campaigning of every branch across Northern Ireland.
“It should not be acceptable that members in Northern Ireland, who have taken brave stands in defence of pay justice, have found themselves the last to receive a pay award. Our members have constantly said to the government at Westminster and all parties in Northern Ireland that they cannot be left behind. Where is the equality in that? Where is the justice in that for our members?”
Another delegate speaking in support of the motion described the Pay Review Body as “broken beyond repair”. Alison McConaghie from Northern Ireland’s Northern Health branch said: “The pay review body is not wanted in Northern Ireland, we have been very, very clear about that. We need collective bargaining. We need a model that would be more responsive to workers’ needs.”
Make work pay for members
UNISON Torbay Health branch proposed a motion that brought low-paid workers, who are paid below £12.70 an hour, into the focus of pay negotiations.
Introducing the motion, the delegate from Torbay said that, “failure to provide pay which allows the retention of staff is a cause for concern. At present, both patient safety and health and safety are at risk.”
The motion also called for non-pay elements of future pay deals to include commitments to invest in training and upskilling workers.
Speaking in support of the motion, Bryn Webster, chair of UNISON’s national ambulance committee, said: “UNISON has led the way, making gains for low-paid workers in hostile situations.
“Without collective bargaining the NHS pay will yet again fall behind.”
Mr Webster stated that the union “made gains with the Tories when we could negotiate” and now needed to make sure that the Labour government, “is aware of our anger.”
Also speaking in support of the motion, a delegate from Newcastle Hospitals branch, who works as a band 2 domestic, described how she and her husband, who is a band 2 hospital porter, are “struggling to make ends meet on our wages.”
She added: “With interest rates, food and energy costs rising, it feels like we’re living to work rather than working to live. This is not dignity at work.”
The article Health conference: pay and bargaining top of the agenda first appeared on the UNISON National site.
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