Strike action by healthcare workers in the north has been averted after unions moved to accept a pay offer from Health Minister Mike Nesbitt.
The deal was reached on Tuesday, and followed “constructive discussions” between the minister and trade unions including Unison, Nipsa and Unite last week.
Mr Nesbitt has welcomed the offer’s acceptance, and said he regrets the “elongated and complicated” process to reach agreement.
The talks led to an “enhanced pay offer”, which has now been accepted by the unions and includes a commitment that pay parity will be maintained for the full year 2024/25 at 5.5%.
In a statement published by Unison on behalf of the trade unions involved in the talks, they said: “The minister has advised that he will immediately provide funding for the cost of 10 months and has plans to secure funding for the balance of two months in the January monitoring round.
“During a series of meetings unions were provided details of the intense pressures on the Northern Ireland Executive budget.
“In practical terms health workers can now expect at least 10 months retrospective pay on their March 2025 pay dates.”
The statement added that the unions “will remain engaged and focused early in the New Year on full delivery of the minister’s commitments”.
There had been fears the pay row would lead to strike action.
Last month, British Medical Association NI had warned that a failure by Mr Nesbitt to offer the full pay award would be “totally unacceptable”.
The minister had warned he would be unable to match pay deals of healthcare staff in the rest of the UK, due to his department receiving £350 million in the October Stormont monitoring round. He had said the sum would leave him £100m short of a balanced budget.
Welcoming the response form the unions on Tuesday, Mr Nesbitt said: “The proposed enhanced offers I made last week will mirror the value of the increases in England, albeit in two tranches due to ongoing pressures on my Department’s budget.
“I was extremely keen that health workers would not have to go through Christmas thinking they might need to take industrial action to get their pay awards.
“Like the unions, I am disappointed we couldn’t get to this point in a quicker, cleaner manner.
“I regret that this year’s pay process has been so elongated and complicated. I am determined to avoid a repetition of this situation in future years.”
The minister added that the settlement “is good news for health staff, good news for patients and good news for all those who care about our health service”.
“Winter pressures are escalating once again and I owed it to staff to do all in my power to get a decent deal over the line,” he said.
The BMA has been approached for comment.
