‘THIS IS unfinished business,’ said the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) leader Pat Cullen yesterday, urging members to vote YES as the union opened its new strike ballot.
Nearly 300,000 nursing staff are being asked whether they’re prepared to take further strike action over the next six months.
The ballot of RCN members working on Agenda for Change contracts in England asks whether nursing staff are prepared to take strike action in response to the NHS pay award the UK government is implementing for 2022/23 and 2023/24.
The RCN is urging members to vote ‘yes’ to strike action to pressure ministers to improve the pay award for nursing staff – and in turn improve staffing levels to keep patients safe.
This comes after RCN members rejected the award in April following six days of strike action between December and February and a further 28-hour strike was held on 30 April without national derogations.
The RCN’s new ballot will be aggregated, meaning the union is seeking a country-wide mandate.
This means the union would have a mandate to strike in every NHS Trust or other NHS employer in England where RCN members work.
If successful, the next strikes would involve more than twice as many nursing staff at twice as many locations.
To achieve a country-wide mandate, 50% of all eligible members must vote and the majority must say ‘yes’ to strike action.
Previously, the RCN sought a mandate to strike at individual NHS employers which meant only specific trusts took strike action.
The ballot opens as the government seeks to push the Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Bill through Parliament, with the Bill being voted on in Parliament yesterday.
The RCN says the Bill curtails the freedom of nursing staff to take part in lawful industrial action, and called on MPs to support an amendment to ensure nursing staff cannot be sacked for striking.
The ballot will close on Friday 23 June with results expected to be announced the following week.
The new strike mandate would run until 22 December 2023.
RCN General Secretary and Chief Executive Pat Cullen said: ‘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.
‘This is unfinished business and the government can get it resolved without the need for more strike action.
‘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.
‘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.’
Meanwhile, Tory Northern Ireland secretary Chris Heaton-Harris’s statement threatens pay inequality for NHS workers, said the union Unite.
His claim of a ‘lack of ability’ to pay any increase is ‘unnecessarily provocative’ to health and social care workers.
The comments raise the prospect of a return to pay inequality for NHS workers in NI as compared to those elsewhere in the UK, the union warned.
Kevin McAdam, lead officer for health in Unite, said: ‘This statement does nothing apart from ramp up tensions within the workforce at a time when the permanent secretary is engaged in cuts to training places and other vital health provisions…
‘Our members have resisted further strike action in order to allow space for talks but this statement leaves us no option but to prepare for further action. Our members will not and cannot accept a zero pay award.’
