NURSING A GRIEVANCE

Staff back summer of protest over 1% wage cap

NURSES will stage a summer of protests after a poll found strong support for strikes over pay.

The Royal College of Nursing has said it will hold a ballot on industrial action if the 1% cap on pay is not dropped by the next Government. An initial poll yesterday showed nine in 10 nurses supported action short of a strike, while almost four in five backed strikes. RCN council chairman Michael Brown said: “This is an unprecedented show of anger and frustration. Politicians must now tell us what they’ll do about nursing pay.” Labour has vowed to lift the cap if it wins the June 8 general election but the Tories would make no pledge. Shadow Health Secretary Jonathan Ashworth said: “Nurses have been taken for granted for too long by the Conservative Government. It has left the NHS well short of the number of staff it needs to keep patients safe.” Another ballot must be held before any action takes place. It could lead to the first ever strike by RCN members since it was founded in 1916. Mr Brown said: “Members want to send a much tougher message to government, which is why we will be leading them in a summer of protest activity.” RCN chief Janet Davies said: “It’s about ensuring patients get safe and effective care. The 1% cap is putting patient care at risk.” The RCN says low pay is partly responsible for tens of thousands of unfilled nursing posts. A graduate nurse starts on £22,000, rising to an average £27,000, but nurses have had a 14% pay cut in real terms under the Tories since 2010. The 1% cap was introduced in 2015. More than 52,000 of 270,000 RCN members took part in the consultative poll, including Carey Johnson, 38, of Medway, Kent who backed strike action after struggling “on the breadline”. She said: “If we don’t take a stand now we never will.” Dr Mark Porter, chairman of the British Medical Association council, said yesterday that doctors would agree with the nurses’ message. But a Tory spokesman would make no promises over nurses’ pay, saying: “The only way we can increase NHS funding, staffing or pay is to get a good Brexit deal.”

Politicians must now tell us what they’ll do about nurses’ pay MICHAEL BROWN RCN COUNCIL CHAIRMAN