DELEGATES at the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) Annual Congress at the Brighton Conference Centre cheered and gave General Secretary Pat Cullen a standing ovation yesterday when she called for a strong YES vote for strike action in the national ballot which begins next week.
The 500 delegates strongly backed her pledge to mobilise against massive Tory cuts to nursing in the North of Ireland and against proposals for ‘apprentice’ nurses and doctors.
She got cheers of support when she said: ‘The way this government talks about migration sickens me’ and pledged that all refugees are ‘beyond welcome’
Cullen told delegates: ‘Patients are not dying because nurses are striking; nurses are striking because our patients are dying. It is as clear as that. Your courage and sheer determination has been an inspiration. Something fundamental has really shifted. Nursing has always had a voice. But this last year we decided to use it in a way that astounded everybody.
‘And when they lost the public debate, when they lost the confidence of our public sector and other key workers, what did they resort to? A new law to stop you taking strike action. A law to threaten you with the sack. It is draconian, unnecessary and vindictive.
‘In seven days from now, nursing staff in England will receive fresh ballot papers on the question of whether to continue with strike action for up to six more months. If you give the College another six-month mandate for strike action, across the whole of England’s NHS, then government will be forced to act once more.
‘The system in Northern Ireland is hanging by a thread. Financial cuts of breathtaking brutality hang over it – 300 student nurse places slashed just yesterday. And our members don’t even know if they’ll receive an enhanced pay award for last year, never mind a pay award for this year. Congress, it is an outrage and we will not let it rest.
‘I think Congress wants to know where this College stands on one issue that came to light last week. The head of the NHS talked about apprenticeships as a way to fill nursing and doctor vacancies, that people could train on the job.
‘The government will not solve this challenge by focusing on apprenticeships. The focus and the money has to be through university-based degrees. We settled this debate some years ago. We are a graduate profession.
‘Nursing in the United Kingdom is fantastically international. Diversity is one of our many strengths as a profession and as a Royal College. We are working ever more closely with internationally educated colleagues and diaspora groups to make sure the RCN meets the needs of all members.
‘We will lead on an anti-racist agenda. In this hall alone there are colleagues who completed their education or perhaps started their careers in Africa, in Asia and in the Americas. Whether somebody comes to this country ready to work as a highly skilled nurse or they arrive as a political refugee fleeing war or persecution, or they simply want a new and prosperous life in the UK, they are beyond welcome.
‘And that should not need saying. But let me say something very, very simple. The way this government talks about migration sickens me. Our country deserves a better more informed and celebratory national conversation, especially in this anniversary year of Windrush.
‘Colleagues from anywhere around the world, near or far, you are very, very welcome. You are welcome and much needed in the NHS and in the care system. It is your home as much as it is my home…
‘Tens of thousands more people have joined this college and the movement that we are building together since Congress last year.
‘When we are bigger than we have ever been I think that we know we are doing the right thing.
‘Our size is our power. Our professional body and trade union has never been bigger. Stand together and we will win.’
