NHS unions, including MiP, have agreed to work together on a joint pay claim for 2021, when the current three-year NHS pay deal for Agenda for Change staff expires.

Unions representing all staff except doctors—who are not covered by Agenda for Change—have held initial talks and are consulting with members on priorities for the 2021-22 pay round. The move follows the successful joint approach to negotiating the 2018 pay deal, which saw the first meaningful pay rises for many NHS staff in eight years as well as significant restructuring of the Agenda for Change pay system.

Helga Pile, UNISON’s deputy head of health, said the unions would soon be engaging with members and activists on what should go into the new claim.

“This will involve asking for views on the impact of the current deals and members’ priorities for the 2021 pay round,” she explained. “It’s also a chance to gauge how strongly members feel about pay issues relative to other workforce matters and any views on how pay settlements should be arrived at in future.”

MiP chief executive Jon Restell said that, while most MiP members had welcomed the 2018 deal, there was some “unfinished business” for managers which the union hoped to address in new talks.

“MiP has some specific member concerns which we will want to address in the next pay round,” he added. “High on the list will be avoiding any cap of the general award for staff on the higher pay bands: it was unfair and damaged morale.”