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56% of Amicus’ 80,000 health service members have voted to accept government proposals for pay modernisation and job standardisation in the NHS.
More than 17,000 Amicus members voted to support Agenda for Change which aims to establish harmonisation for Health Service employees on basic conditions of service including pay and working hours.
Gail Cartmail, Amicus’ National Officer for Health, said: "This vote endorses the broad principles of Agenda for Change, but the relatively narrow result indicates there are still problems that need to be resolved.
"Under the present proposals there will still be winners and losers so we regard this very much as the start rather than the end of the process. We will carry on working closely with our members and with government to ensure that everyone will benefit from the changes."
Mark Jones, the Director of the Community Practitioners' and Health Visitors' Association, said: "The YES vote for the Agenda for Change package is good news for health visitors and community nurses. Not only does it give a welcome boost to their salaries, it also paves the way for a new way of working within the NHS, such as the implications for career development heralded by the Knowledge and Skills Framework. The CPHVA will be working within Amicus to ensure that the gains highlighted in Agenda for Change are consolidated and built on in the years to come."
Amicus’ ballot did not make a voting recommendation, instead the union chose to provide as much information as possible to their members for them to decide.
75% of Unison members voted to back Agenda for Change earlier this week.
Agenda for Change is due to be rolled out from 1 December 2004.
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