Nurses’ pay dispute: dates announced for two-day strike in January
Posted 23 December 2022 - 09:00
Services at 55 trusts in England will be affected unless government agrees to come to the table for pay negotiations
Nurses are to walk out for two consecutive days in January as their industrial action over pay and working conditions ramps up.
Strike action could be prevented if government agrees to negotiate
The RCN today confirmed its members in England will strike on 18 and 19 January, unless the government begins pay negotiations before those dates.
The action will take place in more NHS trusts in England than this month – increasing from 44 to 55 organisations.
RCN general secretary Pat Cullen said ministers had ‘chosen to push nursing staff out into the cold again in January’.
‘The public support has been heart-warming and I am more convinced than ever this is the right thing to do for patients and the future of the NHS,’ she said.
‘The voice of nursing will not be ignored. Staff shortages and low pay make patient care unsafe – the sooner ministers come to the negotiating table, the sooner this can be resolved. I will not dig in, if they don’t dig in.’
Nurses in Wales and Northern Ireland will not be striking again in January but will be given the option to join further strikes, the college said.
Nurses in Scotland reject revised pay offer
In Scotland, nurses this week voted overwhelmingly to reject their government’s revised pay offer of around 8%. Strike action had been postponed while nurses considered the offer, but RCN Scotland is now expected to announce dates for strikes in the new year.
Nurses in England, Wales and Northern Ireland have been offered a 4% pay increase, or around £1,400. The RCN has been campaigning for a pay increase of five percentages points above the retail prices index inflation rate.
The college said it would confirm more strike dates if the government continued to decline to engage in pay talks.
During two days of strike action in England, Wales and Northern Ireland on 15 and 20 December, thousands of nurses took their fight for better pay and safe staffing to the picket lines.
Steve Barclay says ‘no’ to being part of pay negotiations
Health and social care secretary Steve Barclay has repeatedly refused to meet the RCN, insisting he is using the correct mechanism of NHS Pay Review Body recommendations. He suggested unions were ‘choosing to put patient safety at risk’ by continuing with industrial action.
Mr Barclay responded to today’s announcement by repeating his claim that paying nurses more would take money away from front-line services and exacerbate treatment delays.
‘Strikes are in no one’s best interest, least of all patients, and I urge unions to reconsider further strike action before walkouts have a worse impact on patients,’ he said.
This week it was reported Mr Barclay could fast-track next year’s NHS pay deal in a bid to appease nurses.
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