Health workers are to stage fresh strikes in the continuing dispute over pay.
Members of Unite at Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust in London and the Yorkshire Ambulance Service NHS Trust will walk out next month.
The union said the strikes form part of its targeted approach to industrial action amid plans to escalate the dispute to try to pressure the Government to reopen pay negotiations.
Unite members from across the Guy’s and St Thomas’ workforce, including nurses and other frontline workers, will stage a 24-hour strike on June 1.
Workers have suffered real-terms pay cuts for over a decade and can no longer afford to make ends meet, resulting in experienced staff leaving the NHS in droves— Sharon Graham, Unite
This will be followed by a strike by Unite members employed at the Yorkshire Ambulance Service NHS Trust, including paramedics and call handlers.
They will be striking on June 2 for up to seven hours from 2pm.
Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “Our members are returning to the picket lines in targeted industrial action to place further pressure on the Government to reopen pay negotiations.
“The current pay deal does not address the fundamental problems undermining the NHS.
“Workers have suffered real-terms pay cuts for over a decade and can no longer afford to make ends meet, resulting in experienced staff leaving the NHS in droves.”
Unite members and those in the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) rejected the Government’s offer.
Most health unions in England have accepted a 5% pay rise for this year and a cash payment for last year.
RCN members started voting on Tuesday on whether to continue taking strike action.
Almost 300,000 members of the RCN in England are being asked to renew their mandate for industrial action until the end of the year.
The RCN is urging members to vote Yes to strike action, saying it would pressure ministers to improve the pay award for nursing staff and boost staffing levels to keep patients safe.
It comes as the hospital doctors’ union HCSA announced its junior doctors would be joining the 72-hour walkout planned by the British Medical Association in June.
Junior doctors in England will walk out from 7am on June 14.
