NHS Lanarkshire union members vote for strike action over pay dispute

dailyrecord.co.uk:

NHS Lanarkshire staff who are members of the GMB union have voted overwhelmingly in support of strike action in their ongoing pay battle.The union says 97 per cent of those who participated in their month-long ballot voted in favour of industrial action, while the same strike mandate was voted for by staff of ISS Mediclean at Hairmyres Hospital, the Scottish Ambulance Service and eight other health boards and organisations.It means that nearly 4000 union members including paramedics, nurses, technicians, porters, domestics and radiographers have a “legal mandate to participate in strike action” – which health secretary Humza Yousaf says would be “catastrophic for the health service”.The Lanarkshire Live app is available to download now.

Get all the news from your area – as well as features, entertainment, sport and the latest on Lanarkshire’s recovery from the coronavirus pandemic – straight to your fingertips, 24/7.The free download features the latest breaking news and exclusive stories, and allows you to customise your page to the sections that matter most to you.Head to the App Store and never miss a beat in Lanarkshire - iOS - Android GMB Scotland organiser Karen Leonard said of the vote: “This a direct response from our members to the government that more must be done to properly value NHS workers and the services they deliver – not just to confront the cost of living crisis, but also to tackle understaffing in our frontline services that’s left staff utterly exhausted and increasingly angry.“The understaffing crisis in particular has been understood for years and left unchallenged, only for COVID-19 to expose and exacerbate the chronic shortfalls, and no-one should be in any doubt the only way we can recruit and