Ten reasons why NHS staff should reject the new pay offer

1. It's a pay cut. If we accept the offer our pay will go up by less than the rate of inflation (the average increase of prices). This means we will be worse off this year than last year.

2. The new offer is still staged (at least in England) - which most of the unions said was the absolute worst thing about the original deal.

3. The new offer still leaves NHS staff in England paid less than those in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, which we must object to because the more we are divided the weaker we will be in future pay negotiations.

4. The new offer has been calculated by the Government to fit within the 'limit' set by Gordon Brown for all public sector pay rises this year of 2%. He wants public sector workers to pay the cost of trying to keep inflation down, even while prices (and wages in the private sector) rise more quickly.

5. The new offer talks about future years' pay rises being negotiated inside the pay limit of 2% rises - so not only a pay cut for this year but setting us up for pay cuts in the next two years as well.

6. Other public sector workers are already taking industrial action (like postal workers) or consulting about taking action (like council workers and civil servants). If we all fight together this year for a decent pay rise we have a good chance of winning, but if we settle for this offer then we will have missed the chance for united action.

7. The 'sweetener' in the deal of £38 towards the professional registration fees paid by some NHS staff is not yet on offer outside of England. That's another attempt at 'divide and rule' by the employers, and we must not fall for it.

8. Irish nurses have already won a pay rise and a cut in their working week by taking industrial action. People often say that nurses can't or won't go on strike. But nurses in Ireland recently took strike action (short, one or two hour long strikes) together with longer-term action like refusing to do administrative tasks or cover absences and forced their government to come up with more money and cut their working week, too. We could do the same.

9. Taking action is the best way to show our anger over NHS cuts and privatisation. The private companies who are so keen to take over bits of the NHS think that a low-paid, demoralised workforce will be easy for them to squeeze profits from. A big fight over this year's pay offer would show them, and the government, that NHS workers are prepared to stand up for ourselves, and for the services our patients depend on.

10. We can get a better deal. The unions say this is the best deal that can be got through negotiations. That's probably true. The government don't want to give us any more. In fact, if they could get away with it, they'd probably like to pay us a lot less. But taking united industrial action with a million other public sector workers would force them to come up with something better.