A row over arrangements for paying staff who have to work on the day of the royal wedding is brewing after health workers across the country were told they will not receive any extra money.
Unison accused a number of NHS trusts of being "mean" for making staff work on April 29 without receiving any extra payment even though it has been declared a bank holiday.
Prime Minister David Cameron said the date would be a bank holiday when Prince William and Kate Middleton announced their wedding date, but the Department of Health is allowing each hospital to decide its own arrangements for time off and pay.
Unison said health staff would normally get time plus 60% and a day in lieu for bank holiday working and some hospitals are paying extra to staff who will be on duty on April 29.
But others, including hospitals in Solihull, Birmingham, Lancashire and Norfolk, want to treat it as a normal working day, said Unison.
National officer Mike Jackson said: "It's only fair to pay nurses and hospital staff a little bit extra, for coming in and running essential services on the royal wedding day. It's been declared a public holiday and they will be missing out on celebrations across the country and with friends and family.
"There is not much for staff to celebrate in the NHS at the moment, with the prospect of a two-year pay freeze and job cuts looming large. It is mean-minded and demoralising of trusts to spoil this special day by refusing overtime rates.
"The decision on whether to pay or not should not be left to the whim of individual trusts."
Unison is meeting NHS Employers on February 25 for talks over royal wedding day payment rates.
The GMB union last week expressed dismay that North Ayrshire Council has decided against treating the royal wedding as a bank holiday, insisting that its 7,000 employees would not be entitled to take the day off, blaming "unprecedented financial challenges" facing the public sector.
