Strike action planned by the Royal College of Nursing for May 2 has been called off after a High Court judge ruled it would be unlawful.
Health Secretary Steve Barclay secured the court’s interim declaration after “regretfully” bringing legal action against part of the trade union’s proposed walkout in a long-running dispute over pay.
Lawyers representing RCN did not attended a hearing in London on Thursday to face the Government’s accusations that strike action beyond the end of May 1 has “no democratic legitimacy”.
RCN members working in the NHS in England at workplaces with a strike mandate are preparing to take 48-hour industrial action from 8pm or the start of the night shift on April 30.
Mr Barclay previously said NHS Employers - which represents National Health Service employers in England - had contacted him asking him to check the legality of the action because the organisation believes the strike mandate runs out on May 1.
In his ruling, Mr Justice Linden concluded that a six-month period in which industrial action can be taken following the RCN balloting members last year expires at midnight on Monday.
Speaking outside the Royal Courts of Justice after the judgement, Royal College of Nursing general secretary Pat Cullen said the union would no longer strike on May 2, but would continue with the planned action on April 30 and May 1.
Ms Cullen added: “Where do we go from here? Well, of course, our nursing staff will not do anything that isn’t legal.
“We will continue to have strike action on Sunday evening and again on Monday, but we will not be taking strike action on May 2.
“Our nurses have carried out very safe, legal action to date. And Steve Barclay can continue to threaten them with their registration.
“He can continue, if he wishes, to drag them through court proceedings. But what he needs to do is get into a negotiating room and start to talk to the nurses of England, sort out this dispute and allow them to get back to their work.”
She told the PA news agency: “This Government can keep on challenging as much as they want.
“Nurses will not do anything illegally. We’ve had a very, very safe six months of strike action, in fact during those six months our nurses only took six days of strike action.”
She said it was with a “heavy heart” that strike action could continue in the lead-up to Christmas, adding: “If Steve Barclay continues to stay in the tunnel that he’s in, we will end up with strike action for the next six months because nursing staff are not going to step back now.”
Reacting to the ruling, Mr Barclay said: “I firmly support the right to take industrial action within the law – but the government could not stand by and let plainly unlawful strike action go ahead.
“Both the NHS and my team tried to resolve this without resorting to legal action, but unfortunately, following a request from NHS Employers, we took this step with regret to protect nurses by ensuring they are not asked to take part in an unlawful strike.
“We welcome the decision of the High Court that the Royal College of Nursing’s planned strike on 2 May is illegal.
“The government wants to continue working constructively with the Royal College of Nursing, as was the case when we agreed the pay offer that was endorsed by their leadership. We now call on them to do the right thing by patients and agree derogations for their strike action on 30 May and 1 April.”
It was “regrettable” that the Government had to take legal action against the RCN, Downing Street has said.
The Prime Minister’s official spokesman told reporters: “I think, firstly, it is obviously regrettable that it had to come to court action in the first instance.
“The Government never wanted to take this to court. We did indeed try every possible way to avoid a court case.
“The NHS presented the RCN with clear legal evidence that their planned strike for May 2 was unlawful. We asked them to call it off. The RCN refused. That’s why the NHS asked the Government to intervene and seek the view of the court.
“Late yesterday, Steve Barclay wrote the RCN, to Pat Cullen again, and asked them to call off their final day of the strike given we were confident that it was not legal, they refused again.”
