THE ENTIRE leadership of the nurses union RCN has been sacked by the membership!
A vote of no confidence at an Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) in Birmingham was passed yesterday. The RCN membership had forced the leadership to call the EGM, with more than 1,000 members signing a petition triggering it.
The motion that was discussed and voted on is: ‘We have no confidence in the current leadership of the RCN and call on council to stand down.’ RCN members are furious that their union leaders recommended that they vote for a ‘pay deal’ that, when inflation is taken into account, was in fact a pay cut.
Yesterday that motion received 11,156 YES votes (78.1%) for no confidence and 3,124 votes against (21.9%). The RCN promised a 3% uplift in salaries which was not received in its entirety – instead, nurses will have to wait for the next portion of their pay rise. Many nurses received no raise at all!
In July, RCN chief executive Janet Davies was forced to issue an apology to members. Soon after, she quit. Chair of Council Maria Trewern said: ‘Today’s honest and open debate in Birmingham has cleared the air and the College will emerge stronger as a result.
‘This vote is clear and the Council and management of the RCN have received the message. Council has already driven change within the organisation in recent weeks – to listen more closely to members and involve them thoroughly – and this will continue.
‘Following today’s vote, the Council now enters a period of transition. An urgent Council meeting is convened for next week to plan the way forward and those next steps will be announced.’
