Nurses are still in a strong position in their bitter pay row with ministers, a union boss insisted today.
Royal College of Nursing chief executive Pat Cullen denied the union’s position was “confusing” after she recommended accepting a 5% offer - which was rejected by members - before later urging the Government to return with a double digit hike.
Asked whether the RCN was still in the strong position that it was some months ago, she told the BBC: "Absolutely... Government cannot ignore the voice of 300,000 nursing staff that are our members within the Royal College of Nursing.”
She said it was “really important” to “get round the table again” and improve the offer, as she denied her position was "confusing" for nurses.
“It's not confusing,” she said.
"Tens of thousands of my members voted to tell the Government their last offer was not good enough, that's very clear.
"What was the offer? It was basically a consolidated 9% over a couple of years, and that's a really important point - and we're saying to government, ‘Let's negotiate further and add to it’."
Speaking ahead of the RCN's congress in Brighton, she claimed that many nurses are "living in poverty".
"We'll hear many debates over the next week, just about the conditions that our nursing staff are working in - they are harrowing to listen to, it's harrowing for our nurses, it's harrowing for our patients,” she told ITV’s Good Morning Britain.
"We need to address the absolute crisis that we're in within the health service and the crisis that our nursing staff find themselves in.
"Our nurses, and we'll hear from them this week, many of them (are) living in poverty and having to leave the profession simply because they can no longer afford to stay in it.
"We can't continue on with this.”
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