Sign the joint union open letter below:

"Dear Cabinet Minister for Health and Care,

3.3% is not enough. 

NHS staff feel angry and let down. Day in, day out it's a struggle to deal with understaffing, overwork and the constant feeling that - hard as staff try - patients are not getting the standard of care they should.  

Years of eroded wages have left staff demoralised, struggling with rising bills and increasingly driven to seek better-paid work elsewhere.  

The Pay Review Body process has not delivered.  

We hoped things could start to change, and that the last government would negotiate with unions and employers to agree a plan for improving pay. 

Instead, once again they have gone with a Pay Review Body recommendation for a real-terms pay cut. And using this process gives staff and their unions no say in the matter.  

We say 3.3% is not enough.  

Not enough to keep pace with the cost of living.  

Not enough to restore what has been lost through pay erosion.  

And not enough to address the longstanding unfairness of staff on the Agenda for Change (AfC) contract getting less than other groups.  

Direct pay negotiations in NHS Wales  

In 2025, AfC staff in Wales had to ensure yet another real-terms pay cut imposed upon them from above, as the Welsh Government accepted the findings of the unaccountable NHS Pay Review Body in London.

The result is that our members in Wales are now paid 3.5% less than equivalent NHS staff working in Scotland, where employers and government negotiate directly with workers through their unions.  

Your Welsh Government can avoid a damaging pay dispute with NHS staff by entering direct pay negotiations with workers immediately.  

We all want NHS Wales to succeed.  

No one wants NHS Wales to recover more than the staff who deliver it. But that requires a workforce properly funded and supported to give its best. 

NHS Wales staff now call on you to take the first step: recognise the problems with pay and enter direct negotiations with the unions immediately."