Is Scotland’s strike momentum slowing?

Finally, good news on the strike front: NHS staff in Scotland have decided against walking out after voting to accept an improved pay offer from the Scottish government. The deal means healthcare workers will get pay rises ranging from £2,205 to £2,751. But this isn’t an offer to end all strike threats yet – nurses and physiotherapists are yet to decide whether they will halt strike action after the government’s latest offering.

For now, Nicola Sturgeon is hailing the announcement as a victory: the SNP’s health secretary Humza Yousaf – who has faced calls to resign as NHS waiting lists continue to grow – welcomed the decision by Unite and Unison to accept the ‘record pay offer’. More than 60 per cent of Unite the Union’s membership voted yes to an improved pay offer, and 57 per cent of the turnout voted to cancel industrial action, meaning that planned strikes that would affect the Scottish Ambulance Service, as well as the wider NHS Scotland, has been called off.