Nursing union threatens walk-out in Northern Ireland in response to pay 'farce' as nurses frozen out of UK wage hike
The spectre of strike action by thousands of nurses in Northern Ireland has been raised by their main union.
The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) in Northern Ireland says that a ballot for industrial action for its members is “expected” to be held some time in the Autumn over what the union describes as a government pay “farce”.
The Department for Health has been contacted for comment.
Nurses in Northern Ireland start on Band 5 of the health payscale, where pay ranges between £31,049 and £37,796; some 60% of nurses fall into this pay band.
RCN officials say the mooted strike action is in response to nurses in Northern Ireland not being granted a pay rise like their counterparts in Great Britain.
The pay rise being sought would apply to those nurses working directly for the NHS, not those in private care homes or GPs’ surgeries.
A spokeswoman for the RCN, which represents the great majority of the roughly 24,000 registered nurses in Northern Ireland, said that an independent pay body recommended a 3.3% pay hike for nurses in Northern Ireland, England, and Wales, to be effective from April 2026.
While English and Welsh nurses have got theirs, Northern Irish ones have not (and Scottish nurses meanwhile were given a rise of 3.75%).
The CPIH inflation rate currently stands at 3.1%, compared with 4.2% the same time last year.
The RCN spokeswoman told the News Letter that nurses in Northern Ireland had been given a 3.6% pay rise a year earlier – albeit after a delay.
The RCN's governing council has now written to the Northern Ireland Executive to formally notify them of the dispute.
In a statement, the RCN’s executive director professor Rita Devlin 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…
"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.”