All NHS staff in Wales on ‘Agenda for change’ pay scales will receive a 1% consolidated pay rise from April 2015 in a deal agreed between health worker trade unions and the Welsh government.
In January 2015, the same staff will also receive an across-the-board £187 payment as part of a 2014–2015 pay settlement.
The Welsh government is also guaranteeing that all NHS staff will be paid at least the living wage from the beginning of 2015.
Details of the two-year pay agreement were revealed on 20 November 2014 as NHS staff in England and Northern Ireland prepared to begin a second four-hour strike on 24 November 2014 over pay. The strike was part of their protest at their governments’ refusal to accept the 1% pay rise recommended for 2014–2015 by the independent pay review body. The governments instead offered a 1% non-consolidated rise to staff at the top of their incremental pay scale.
The strike, which involved members from 11 trade unions — including Unite which is linked to the Guild of Healthcare Pharmacists — was the second over pay since October 2014.
NHS staff in Scotland are not involved in the dispute after their government accepted the pay body recommendations.
