Nurses planning summer of protest in row over pay cap

● RCN threatens industrial action ballot after claiming its members have suffered 14 % wage cut in real terms since 2010

Nurses are to stage protests across the UK this summer after a poll showed strong support for strikes over pay.

The Royal College of Nursing warned that, unless the 1 per cent cap on pay is scrapped, it will ballot on industrial action later this year, threatening the first ever strikes by its members.

The RCN said nine out of ten nurses voted in a consultative ballot to support action short of a strike, while almost four out of five backed strikes.

More than 50,000 of the RCN’S 270,000 members took part in the poll. Another ballot would have to be held before any action takes place.

The RCN has warned that low pay is partly responsible for tens of thousands of unfilled nursing posts.

Nurses have suffered a 14 per cent pay cut in real terms since 2010 because of a cap on public sector pay, said the RCN. A formal pay cap of 1 per cent was introduced in 2015.

Michael Brown, chairman of the RCN council, said: “Politicians must now listen and tell us what they will do about nursing pay.

“It’s a message to all parties that the crisis in nursing recruitment must be put centre-stage in this election. We’re demanding answers on behalf of our patients as well as nursing staff.

“If we don’t stand up now, how can we guarantee their future safety and wellbeing?

“The RCN has never gone on strike before, so balloting our members would be a very significant step.

“We’ve heard from members that they want to send a much tougher message to government, which is why we will be leading them in a summer of protest activity.”

Janet Davies, RCN general secretary, said: “What’s happened today is unprecedented for the RCN and is a reflection of the deep anger members feel.

“The current conditions in the NHS are driving people out of the profession and putting new people off entering it.

“Our argument is not with patients – this is about ensuring they get the safe and effective care they need.

“The 1 per cent cap on nursing pay is putting patient care at risk.”

Last week Scottish Labour pledge to scrap the cap, saying nurses are “understaffed, under pressure and underpaid”.

Labour health spokesman Anas Sarwar used a debate at Holyrood to call on the Scottish Government to match his party’s commitment.

He said nurses’ wages have fallen by an average of £3,400 in real terms since 2010 as a result of the cap.

The government said it had consistently implemented the recommendations of the UK’S NHS Independent Pay Review body and had passed on recommended pay rises in full, unlike other parts of the UK.

Health secretary Shona Robison said: “Nurses in Scotland are over £300 better off at the starting point of Band 5 than anywhere else in these islands, including in Labourrun Wales.”

0 Scottish Labour leader Kezia Dugdale backs nurses on pay