Nurses across Wales to begin voting on strike action from today

Nurses in Wales will begin voting today on whether to strike over pay.

For the first time in its 106-year history, the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) will ask 300,000 of its members across the UK if they want to mount a campaign of industrial action.

The RCN has been calling for a rise of 5% above the RPI inflation rate of 12%.

The Welsh Government has offered all NHS staff on Agenda for Change terms and conditions – including nurses, cleaners, porters, healthcare support workers and healthcare professionals, a £1,400 pay rise on most pay grades.

Speaking to BBC Radio Wales, Director of RCN Wales Helen Whyley said: “This is a historic moment. But it’s one that we don’t enter into lightly at The Royal College of Nursing.

“Strike action is something that we consider to be a real last resort and unfortunately, that’s where we are, we are at a last resort.

“We really need the Welsh Government to sit up and listen to the problems in nursing and do something about it and it has to start with nurses’ pay.

“Recent analysis that we’ve been doing with the London School of Economics has shown that nurses real term earnings have fallen behind by 6% compared to others in the private sector.

“We are looking for an inflation plus 5% pay award, it’s got to address over 10 years of pay restraint, which in effect is 10 years of pay cuts.

“Given the number of vacancies, we’ve got 2000 nurses not coming on shift every day, we need a significant and substantive [pay] rise for this safety critical profession.”

RCN General Secretary and Chief Executive Pat Cullen said: “We are understaffed, undervalued and underpaid. For years our profession has been pushed to the edge, and now patient safety is paying the price.

“We can’t stand by and watch our colleagues and patients suffer anymore.”

“Though strike action is a last resort, it is a powerful tool for change. And we must demand that change. Enough is enough. I urge you to vote ‘yes’ in this ballot.

“Patient care is at risk because of chronic staff shortages, but nursing staff can’t afford to join or stay in the profession.

“There are tens of thousands of unfilled nursing jobs across the UK. Unless governments start to value and pay nursing staff properly, there will be a further exodus, adding more pressure to an overstretched system.”