Nurses in Wales to be balloted on industrial action after 4% offer
RCN Wales officials call below-inflation pay increase ‘unacceptable’ and ‘insulting’, while Welsh Government blames lack of NHS funding from Westminster
Nurses in Wales are set to be balloted on industrial action following an ‘insulting’ pay offer of 4%.
The NHS Pay Review Body (RB) last week announced a below-inflation pay rise of around 4%, which sparked outrage with unions who condemned the offer as a ‘grave misstep’.
RCN Wales council votes for immediate ballot
Following talks with the Welsh Government to negotiate a fairer pay rise, RCN Wales council has voted for an immediate ballot on industrial action after the government made it clear no further funding for the pay award was available.
Under the pay award for 2022-23:
- Nurses on Agenda for Change bands 6 and 7 will receive a 4% increase.
- Newly qualified nurses on band 5 will get a pay rise of 5.5%, with earnings, increasing from £25,655 last year to £27,055.
- All pay rises will be backdated to April 2022.
Pay announcement deemed ‘pitiful and insulting’
The RCN has been campaigning for a pay increase of 5% above inflation to help attract and retain nurses and address the cost of living crisis.
RCN Wales director Helen Whyley said: ‘Nurses will be outraged to learn of this award. This will do nothing to fill over 1,719 vacancies for registered nurses in NHS Wales. It won’t encourage nurses to stay in nursing and it won’t inspire the next generation to join them.
‘Yet again this pitiful and insulting pay announcement does not even come close to making up for the fall in value of nursing pay, compared with a decade ago.’
RCN Wales board chair Richard Jones said: ‘Nurses spend their days giving everything they have to their patients, only to return home in some cases to rely on food banks to sustain themselves and their families.
‘This is shocking and unacceptable.’
Lack of additional funding from UK government
The Welsh Government said the pay rise will be implemented on top of its Real Living Wage top-up for social care workers, which came into effect in April. It does not apply to nurses working in the health sector.
Health and social services minister Eluned Morgan said: ‘Our NHS staff have worked incredibly hard throughout the pandemic to keep us all safe and they continue to provide an incredible service in the face of intense pressures.
‘I hope this pay award goes some way to recognise their hard work, but without additional funding from the UK government, there are inevitably limits to how far we can go in Wales.’
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