The union Unite has announced that further NHS strikes will take place next week as its members have marginally voted to reject the pay offer from the government.
Announcing the results of its ballot, Unite said 55% of its eligible members turned out for the vote, with 52% voting to reject the deal and 48% voting to accept it.
The ballot showed very high figures of rejection among frontline NHS workers, the union said.
Unite revealed that previously announced strikes across NHS organisations with a mandate for industrial action would go ahead next week.
Members at Guys and St Thomas’ and the Yorkshire Ambulance Trust will strike on Monday, 1 May.
Meanwhile on Tuesday, 2 May, members at Christies NHS Foundation Trust, Christies Pathology Partnership, East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust and Sandwell and West Birmingham NHS Trust will strike, alongside workers across other ambulance trusts.
The action by Unite will overlap with the Royal College of Nursing's (RCN) round-the-clock strike, which will take place from 8pm on 30 April until midnight on Monday 1 May.
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Unite was the only union with a strike mandate in England that declined to advise its members to accept the pay offer.
Under the deal, Agenda for Change staff in England would get a non-consolidated lump sum payment for 2022-23 of between £1,655 (8.2%) for band 1 to £3,789 (3.5%), to go on top of the average 4.75% consolidated boost already received.
The government is also offering a consolidated increase for 2023-24 of 5% for all except the lowest-paid staff who would get 10.4%.
Unite general secretary, Sharon Graham, 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.”
Meanwhile Unite’s national lead officer, Onay Kasab, said: “The government is choosing to let the NHS collapse.
“It must make the right decision, return to negotiations and put forward a better deal.”
Unite has followed the RCN in rejecting the pay offer, however Unison, the Royal College of Midwives and the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy have all accepted the pay offer.
Meanwhile, fellow union GMB is set to announce its ballots results later this afternoon.
After this, all unions with a strike mandate in England will have collected their ballot results, and will come together to discuss next steps at the extraordinary meeting of the NHS Staff Council on Tuesday 2 May.
A consultation will take place at the meeting, where staff side representatives will cast their votes on whether they want the NHS Staff Council to collectively accept the pay deal.
To do this, the NHS Staff Council will need the majority of unions to vote to accept the pay offer.
Once the consultation has finished the final result will be presented to the health and social care secretary, Steve Barclay, who will decide whether to implement the pay deal.
It is likely that if GMB accept the offer this afternoon, the government will have enough union backing to get a majority at the council meeting.
This could result in the pay offer being implemented to all NHS workers in England.
The Department of Health and Social Care was contacted for comment.
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