STRIKE action by health workers in Wales in 2023 could be avoided by a meaningful agreement from Welsh government, a union has said.

Unison, which represents tens of thousands of health workers in Wales, published an open letter to First Minister of Wales Mark Drakeford just before Christmas calling for a solution to “reverse the awful situation many thousands of NHS workers are now facing.”

The letter from Unison Cymru regional secretary Dominic MacAskill followed a major ballot of health workers over industrial action in November which saw support from more than 90 per cent of those who responded.

Unison did not reach the threshold for strike action in Wales but, the union will be re-balloting workers in the Welsh Ambulance Service in January as low pay and poor working conditions continue to take their toll.

Earlier this year, health workers in Wales were offered a £1,400 pay award although unions have said this is a real-terms pay cut for the majority of staff.

Mr MacAskill said further industrial action by health workers in Wales could be avoided if Welsh government takes the lead.

“Unison is the largest health union in Wales and is calling for an agreement from the Welsh government to avert an escalation of industrial action and seek a resolution,” he said.

“There is a real need for Wales, like Scotland, to use the powers of devolution and find a Welsh answer to avoid further upheavals in the health service over the winter.

“Although we did not reach the threshold necessary for industrial action in Wales, the responses we did receive overwhelmingly rejected the recommendations of the pay review body and supported industrial action.

“This shows the extent of the feeling of already exhausted health workers in Wales.”

Unison Cymru assistant convenor Jan Tomlinson said: “Public sector workers showed their support in massive numbers for Labour at the last Senedd elections and it is disappointing that, when it comes to the crunch, devolution doesn’t seem to make a difference to the pay of those workers.”