Nurses warn of ‘imminent’ strike action in dispute over pay
Its expected RCN members will be balloted this autumn
A nursing union has warned that strike action by healthcare staff could be “imminent” due to an ongoing dispute over pay.
The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) said nurses in the region “continue to be denied” a pay award already approved in other parts of the UK.
The RCN’s governing council has approved the next steps towards a statutory ballot for industrial action.
The organisation has written to the Northern Ireland executive and employers to formally notify them of the dispute, and it is expected that RCN members will be balloted in the autumn.
Rita Devlin, executive director of the RCN in Northern Ireland said: “For the third year running, nursing staff in Northern Ireland find themselves in the unacceptable position of having to fight for a pay award that has already been delivered to colleagues across the rest of the UK.
“Once again, our members are being asked to wait while political leaders fail to deliver what they are entitled to receive.
“Despite clear support from the previous health minister for this award to be implemented, the Northern Ireland Executive’s failure to secure a budget has once again denied nursing staff a pay award.
“This is being felt most acutely by those already facing rising household bills and sustained cost-of-living pressures. “With no award in place to offset inflation, nursing staff are effectively experiencing a real-terms pay cut.”
NHS staff in England and Wales are receiving a 3.6% pay rise this year, but former health minister Mike Nesbitt recently said he could not facilitate pay awards in Northern Ireland in the absence of a budget at Stormont.
Ministers have been unable to agree a budget for the current financial year, with departments operating on contingency budgets since April.
Mr Nesbitt said recently the health service is heading towards a “very bad place” without an agreed budget.
Resident doctors, consultants and specialist doctors have already taken part in industrial action in the region this year.
Ms Devlin said: “Year upon year, we have said that it is not unreasonable to expect a pay award to be planned and delivered on time, but year upon year, this simply doesn’t happen in Northern Ireland. “The fact that we may now end up on picket lines just to get the pay award that has been recommended and agreed is nothing short of a farce.
“This pay uplift barely covers the rising cost of living, yet we still cannot get it paid.
“We are approaching an Assembly election next year and those working in the health service need to make their voices heard.
“It is incredible that this same situation is repeated every year and is certainly not reflective of a system that is working.”
She added: “The anger amongst the nursing community that this has been allowed to happen again is palpable.
“Nursing staff, who have shown unwavering commitment to patients and services through some of the most challenging years the health service has ever faced, deserve better than this cycle of delay, uncertainty and broken promises.
“Industrial action is never our preferred option. However, if it is the only way to secure the pay award nursing staff have earned and are owed, we will not hesitate to take action.”
The Department of Health said in a statement that it is "disappointed that the RCN is moving towards a ballot for industrial action but the Minister appreciates the frustration felt by Nurses and other Agenda for Change staff in respect of the delay in implementing the recommendations of the NHS Pay Review Body for 26/27."
"The Minister is fully committed to ensuring staff across HSC receive their recommended pay award and that pay parity with NHS England colleagues is restored as soon as possible. The previous Minister issued a Ministerial Direction to enable the pay awards to be implemented; this direction must be agreed by the Executive. The Minister will continue to press Executive colleagues to agree the direction as a matter of priority to allow staff across HSC to receive their long over-due pay award and he will be meeting with representatives of all Agenda for Change Unions, including the RCN on 1 September."
"The Minister is also fully committed to working with employers, Trade Unions and Governments on Agenda for Change Structural Pay Reform that had been progressing on a 3-nation basis (with colleagues in England and Wales)."
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