HEALTH workers in Wales have been encouraged to vote in favour of striking over pay.

The Welsh Government has offered NHS Wales staff on Agenda for Change terms and conditions – which includes nurses, cleaners, porters, healthcare support workers and healthcare professionals – a £1,400 pay rise on most pay grades.

However Unison Cymru has said that this offer leaves NHS staff worse off due to the cost of living crisis.

The union – which represents tens of thousands of NHS Wales staff – will ballot its members from Thursday, October 27, over the possibility of industrial action.

Results of the ballot will be issued on Friday, November 25.

Jan Tomlinson, Unison Cymru assistant convenor, said: “Sadly the impact of the cost-of-living crisis is ​hitting many public sector workers ​hard.

“​These are unprecedented times. ​Many experienced staff will be lost to the NHS without urgent action.”

Unison Cymru head of health, Hugh McDyer, said: “​Everyone should have the right to eat, heat their homes and feed their families.

“The pay ​award of £1,400 for health workers is nowhere near enough and leaves everyone in the NHS worse off.

“​However the award is sliced, it’s a real-terms pay cut ​across every single ​NHS salary band.”

The Unison ballot comes after the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) has encouraged its members to vote to strike over the Welsh Government’s pay offer.

The RCN will ballot its members on the possibility of industrial action from October 6 - having delayed the ballot due to the death of Queen Elizabeth II. The vote will close on November 2.

Should it go ahead, it will be the first time in RCN history that members in England and Wales go on strike.

The union has called for a pay rise of five per cent above inflation to combat years of wage stagnation and the cost-of-living crisis.

Pat Cullen, RCN general secretary and chief executive, said: “Nursing staff will stop at nothing to protect their patients. Staff shortages are putting patient safety at risk and the government’s failure to listen has left us with no choice but to advocate for strike action.

“A lifetime of service must never mean a lifetime of poverty. Ministers’ refusal to recognise the skill and responsibility of the job is pushing people out of the profession.”

The Welsh Government’s pay offer was based on the recommendation of the NHS Pay Review Body.

As part of the offer, the starting salary for the lowest paid roles in band one and the bottom of band two in NHS Wales would be £20,758 – a pay rise of 10.8 per cent this financial year.

For staff at the top of band six and in band seven, the £1,400 payment would be equivalent to a four per cent pay rise.

A Welsh Government spokesperson has said additional funding would be needed from the UK Government to offer a “full and fair” pay rise for NHS Wales staff.

“We have accepted the independent pay review body’s recommendations in full but without additional funding from the UK Government, there are inevitably limits to how far we can go in Wales,” they said.

“We continue to press it to pass on the funding necessary for full and fair pay rises for public sector workers.

“We have committed to continue to explore a range of other issues raised as part of our discussions with trade unions.”