Posted 23 May 2023 - 05:00
Posted 23 May 2023 - 05:00
News
Voting starts in RCN summer strike ballot for nurses
Members urged to vote 'yes' to achieve new mandate for industrial action in England, and force government back to the negotiating table
Members urged to vote 'yes' to achieve new mandate for industrial action in England, and force government back to the negotiating table
A fresh ballot on industrial action opens today as nurses in England are being asked once again whether they support strike action.
RCN members who work for the NHS and are employed on Agenda for Change (AfC) contracts are being urged to vote ‘yes’ to compel the government to come back to the negotiating table.
RCN members urged to ‘use their voice’ to vote for industrial action
The postal ballot is open from 23 May until Friday 23 June. At least 50% of eligible members must vote for the RCN to achieve a legal mandate to strike.
‘Once again, we have been forced to ask our members if they want to take to the picket lines in their fight for fair pay,’ said RCN general secretary Pat Cullen. ‘Ministers have tried to silence them through the courts as well as in parliament but we will continue to make sure their voice is heard through the corridors of power.
'This is unfinished business and the government can get it resolved without the need for more strike action.
‘The NHS is fraying at the edges. To improve care and address the shortage, government must bring more people into nursing and keep them there by paying staff fairly.’
While other health unions including Unison, the Royal College of Midwives, GMB and the Chartered Society of Physiotherapists all voted to accept the latest pay offer, the RCN (along with Unite the union) remains in dispute with the government after its members voted to the reject the offer for 2022-23 and 2023-24.
With most unions accepting, the government is implementing the offer and nurses on AfC contracts can expect the new pay rise in their pay packets in June.
Strike mandate would apply to all NHS trusts in England
In the previous ballot, the strike mandate was broken down by employer, which meant some nurses were unable to take part in industrial action because the threshold was missed by just a handful of votes at their trust.
This time around the ballot will be England-wide, so if a strike mandate is achieved it will be valid for six months in every NHS trust where RCN members are employed.
The RCN is running workshops for members throughout the ballot period on how to engage colleagues with the pay campaign and encourage as many people as possible to vote – whether ‘yes’ or ‘no'.
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