Unions
British nurses vote for historic national strike
300,000 members of the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) have voted for a first ever national strike, which is expected to take place before Christmas.
The RCN said the government has failed to address a workforce crisis and that the “exploitation of nursing staff cannot be tolerated any longer”, the Guardian reported.
An analysis by the Nuffield Trust published earlier this year found that 40,365 nurses quit the National Health Service in the year to June 2022 – equivalent to one in nine.
The RCN said that since the Conservative Party took power in 2010, the pay of some experienced nurses has fallen by 20 per cent in real terms. They have called for a pay award rise of 5 per cent plus inflation – a total of about 15 per cent.
Pat Cullen, RCN general secretary and chief executive, said: “Patients are at great risk when there aren’t enough nurses. Huge numbers of staff – both experienced and newer recruits – are deciding they cannot see a future in a nursing profession that is not valued nor treated fairly.
“Our strike action will be as much for patients as it is for nurses – we have their support in doing this.”
Unison – the other major union in the NHS – is also balloting its 350,000 members, including porters, nurses, paramedics and cleaners, about strike action in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.