Posted 14 April 2023 - 17:00
Posted 14 April 2023 - 17:00
News
Nurses brace for more strikes as RCN members reject 5% pay offer
College names dates for escalation of NHS strike action, with emergency, intensive care and cancer care nurses joining the picket lines for the first time
College names dates for escalation of NHS strike action, with emergency, intensive care and cancer care nurses joining the picket lines for the first time
Nurses in England’s NHS have voted to reject the government’s revised pay offer, with a fresh wave of strikes to take place at the end of April.
Just 61% of eligible members took part in the RCNs pay ballot which closed today, with 54% voting to reject it and 46% to accept a 5% pay rise for 2023-24 and a one-off payment of between £1,655 and £3,789 for 2022-23.
RCN calls for ‘significantly improved’ NHS pay offer
RCN general secretary Pat Cullen has now written to England’s health and care secretary Steve Barclay to inform him of further strike action and called for a re-opening of negotiations.
‘What has been offered is simply not enough. The government needs to increase what has been offered and we will be highly critical of any move to reduce it,’ Ms Cullen said in the letter.
‘Until there is a significantly improved offer, we are forced back to the picket line. Meetings alone are not sufficient to prevent strike action and I will require an improved offer as soon as possible. In February, you opened negotiations directly with me and I urge you to do the same now.’
Nurses from EDs, cancer services and intensive care units will no longer have strike exemption
The college has announced 48-hour strike from 8pm on 30 April to 8pm on 2 May, over the bank holiday weekend. This time it will without derogations, which means for the first time, the RCN strike will also involve nursing staff working in emergency departments, intensive care units, cancer care and other units previously exempt from strike action.
The strike action will take place under the RCN’s current mandate for industrial action, which lasts until May.
A new England-wide statutory ballot will now be held to extend the scope and duration of the current mandate.
Unison members vote to accept 5% offer
Meanwhile Unison announced 74% of members who voted have accepted the pay offer, saying that while healthcare workers would have wanted more, it was the ‘best that could be achieved through negotiation’. Just 53% of eligible members took part in the ballot.
Unison head of health Sara Gorton said: ‘Over the past few weeks, health workers have weighed up what’s on offer. They’ve opted for the certainty of getting the extra cash in their pockets soon.’
Other health unions including Unite and GMB are continuing to ballot members until the end of the month. The pay offer has been decided through the NHS Staff Council, which has representatives from each union.
‘Minority of nurse workforce give mandate for strike escalation’
The Department of Health and Social Care confirmed once the results of all ballots are in, the staff council will hold a vote on the offer.
A spokesperson added: ‘It is hugely disappointing the RCN membership has rejected the pay deal recommended by their leadership. The fact the RCN has announced an escalation in strike action with no derogations, based on a vote from the minority of the nursing workforce, will be hugely concerning for patients.’
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