The Health Secretary has agreed to meet with UNISON members to discuss the reopening of the NHS pay deal.
It comes after the UK Government announced a pay rise for a range of frontline and key workers - including doctors, teachers and the Armed Forces. Nurses, care staff and other healthcare workers were however excluded.
A series of socially-distanced demonstrations have since been organised in areas across the country as those snubbed from the rise make calls for pay parity.
Tomorrow, as NHS staff across Glasgow are due to take part in further demonstrations outside city hospitals, the Cabinet Secretary for health has agreed to meet with the union members to discuss the reopening of the NHS pay deal.
UNISON chairman Tam Waterson has welcomed Jeane Freeman's decision to "listen" to the workers' concerns.
He said: "We’re glad the Cabinet Secretary for Health has agreed to meet with our members, to listen to their concerns and hear why the Scottish Government must reopen the three-year pay deal.
"Our dedicated NHS staff have suffered real-term pay cuts over the last decade with significant extra costs over this pandemic. This includes extra childcare costs because they are working extra shifts; extra transport costs because of restricted public transport; extra costs because they have being isolating from family; or even extra laundry costs and buying personal PPE.
"These are just ordinary people thrust into extraordinary events and they deserve our support. It’s time for the Scottish Government to do the right thing, to reopen pay talks and to Pay Up Now."
Willie Duffy, UNISON’s head of health, said: “The public support for our heroic NHS workers throughout this pandemic has been amazing.
"Our politicians were happy to go out and clap for them every Thursday night but it’s time they showed their appreciation by putting money in the pockets of our hard-working health workers.”
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