A bold plan for action is needed
Holly Johnston, RCN rep and Socialist Party member
Royal College of Nursing (RCN) members have voted to reject the 5.5% pay award from the Labour government. Members voted in record numbers, with over 145,000 voting and over two thirds rejecting the award.
In 2023, RCN members overturned the recommendations of the union’s leaders and took strike action – for the first time in their history in England and Wales – as part of the strike wave.
It comes as no real surprise that nursing staff, support workers, nursing associates and student nurses are still not happy with our pay. The workload is unsustainable; staff are still leaving in droves. Over 40,000 nurses a year are leaving the NHS. And no government has made a meaningful restorative pay offer that tackles the real-terms loss of up to 30% in the last decade.
In a letter to Labour health secretary Wes Streeting, RCN general secretary Nicola Ranger said: “We are witnessing a fundamental shift in the determination of nursing staff to stand up for themselves, their patients and the NHS they believe in.
“Nursing staff were asked to consider if, after more than a decade of neglect, they thought the pay award was a fair start. This outcome shows their expectations of government are far higher. Our members do not yet feel valued and they are looking for urgent action, not rhetorical commitments.”
Mood of members
The leadership of the RCN seems to want to act in good faith and with goodwill in terms of negotiations with the government. However this doesn’t reflect the mood of the majority of members.
A clear and bold plan for escalation is needed to be taken seriously. As it stands, the RCN will be entering negotiations without the pressure of balloting members for strike action.
Members of the other NHS unions voted to accept the pay award – in most cases on the recommendation of their leaders – and it is likely many are desperate for the backdated pay in their wage packets and have no confidence in negotiations.
Confidence from strike action
But members of the RCN have massive bold strike action already under their belts from the strike wave and again can put their leaders under pressure and inspire others to fight back.
RCN should ballot members for strike action and not wait for the government. That would mean entering negotiations with maximum pressure. Members have remained in dispute since 2023 when they voted to reject that pay award too.
Not addressing our pay in a meaningful way is deliberate. It is clear that Labour’s plans for reforms in the NHS include selling off sections of workforces to private companies. Our pay is directly linked to the future of the NHS and keeping it publicly owned.
