Royal College of Nursing members to go on strike in Northern Ireland within weeks, after 'overwhelming' vote in pay ballot

The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) made the announcement on Wednesday, following its first ever UK-wide strike ballot.

The strike during the winter of 2019/20 in Northern Ireland, when RCN members were joined by health workers from a range of other trade unions, marked the first time in the Royal College’s history stretching back over 100 years that strike action was taken.

This time around, the trade union is campaigning for an inflation-busting pay rise following a pay award the RCN say would leave “experienced nurses 20 per cent worse off in real-terms compared to ten years earlier.”

In Northern Ireland, no pay award has been forthcoming at all due to the power-sharing collapse at Stormont.

A union spokesperson said: “Nursing staff across Northern Ireland have voted overwhelmingly to take strike action over pay levels and patient safety concerns. They will join colleagues across the UK at the majority of NHS employers. RCN members working in Health and Social Care (HSC) services in Northern Ireland were balloted and the first period of industrial action can be expected before the end of the year.”

RCN General Secretary and Chief Executive Pat Cullen, in a statement, said: “Anger has become action – our members are saying enough is enough. The voice of nursing in the UK is strong and I will make sure it is heard. Our members will no longer tolerate a financial knife-edge at home and a raw deal at work.”

Rita Devlin, Director of the RCN in Northern Ireland said: “This is not a decision that has been taken lightly but it is clear that our members feel they have no other choice but to take action on behalf of their patients.

“Low pay has made it very difficult to retain nursing staff and if it is not addressed quickly, we can only expect conditions to deteriorate further. In addition, nurses in Northern Ireland are once again the lowest paid in the UK thanks to the current political situation. This is completely unfair and has only served to make our profession feel more undervalued than ever before.”