United Kingdom - Union criticizes 3.3% pay rise for health workers - February 28, 2026

National Health Service (NHS) staff in England and Wales are to get a 3.3% pay rise in the next financial year, the Government has announced. The award covers around 1.5 million health staff, from nurses and midwives to physios and porters – the entire workforce apart from doctors, dentists and senior managers. The rise is more than the Department of Health and Social Care had initially put forward to the independent pay review body, but it said it had accepted the recommendation of 3.3% to demonstrate its commitment to NHS staff. But a number of health unions said they were disappointed with the award.

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For more information, please contact Paul de Beer or Oana Ciuca, De Burcht (Scientific Bureau for the Dutch Trade Union Movement) p.t.debeer@uva.nl or the Head of communications at the ETUI, Mehmet Koksal mkoksal@etui.org. For previous full issues of the Collective bargaining newsletter please visit https://www.etui.org/Newsletters/Collective-bargaining-newsletter or consult the archive with all articles in our database at www.cbnarchive.eu. You may find further information on the ETUI at www.etui.org.