Nurses are voting on strike action (file picture)
(Picture: PA Wire)Hundreds of thousands of NHS nurses have voted to go on strike, as new research has shown that their real-terms pay has shrunk twice as much as that in the private sector.
During the past decade of Tory rule, earnings among private-sector employees have fallen by 3.2 per cent, but the average weekly pay for nurses reduced by six per cent between 2011 and 2021, analysis by London Economics shows.
For the first time in its 106-year history, the Royal College of Nursing will ballot its 300,000 NHS members about whether to go on strike, and it is calling for a ‘yes’ vote.
General secretary Pat Cullen said: “This is a once-in-a-generation chance to improve your pay and combat the staff shortages that put patients at risk.
“Governments have repeatedly neglected the NHS and the value of nursing. We can change this if together we say, ‘enough is enough’.”
Are NHS workers about to go on strike?
Thousands of NHS staff could be walking over, some before Christmas, but exact dates haven’t been confirmed.
The NHS is facing a winter of discontent, with health unions balloting for industrial action, including the British Medical Association, which represents doctors.
The RCN is the world’s largest nursing trade union and professional body, and it has historically been resistant to industrial action.
The campaign is urging for a £1,400 pay rise for NHS workers in England, and is urging members to Pledge Yes for the NHS.
Since the pay announcement on July 19, the Government has refused to negotiate with unions and, as a result, Unison’s health service group executive has agreed that the only effective way to challenge the pay award is to go through a formal industrial action ballot, which will open in late October.
Speaking about the campaign, Unison’s head of health Sara Gorton said: “It is a challenge, but now is the time to take this on. We’re in the biggest cost-of-living and NHS-staffing crisis in history.
“We’ve seen other parts of Unison, and other unions across our movement beat anti-trade union laws and deliver effective action. We can, too – with hard work and the backing of our members, this is a fight we can win.”
However, a police and crime commissioner has said that strikes by NHS staff would be “criminal” and put lives at risk.
Steve Turner told the BBC’s Politics North programme: “Strikes like this are criminal [because of] the pressure they put on other services.
“From a policing perspective, if there isn’t an ambulance or [people] can’t get hold of a healthcare professional while [nurses] are striking, they’re going to pick up the phone and ring a police officer.
“What I’m saying is you’re putting people’s lives at risk and you’re putting other people under pressure by taking this action.”
What is Vote Yes for the NHS?
NHS workers are being urged to vote Yes for strike action over the Government’s decision to impose below-inflation pay awards of just four per cent for most NHS staff in England and Wales.
The move follows a ballot of members, in which 84 per cent voted for industrial action, and nearly all (97 per cent) said that the award was unfair.
For more information, Unite members can visit myunite.unitetheunion.org.
