(Bloomberg) — A minister urged the biggest nursing union not to press ahead with the first nationwide strike in its 106-year history.
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The Royal College of Nursing has been balloting 300,000 members on industrial action, and is due to announce the results on Wednesday. The union is demanding a pay rise for nurses of 5% above inflation as measured by the Retail Price Index — which is currently running at more than 12%. But the government has offered a far lower pay deal.
“No one wants the nurses to go and strike and we urge the nurses not to go on strike,” Education Secretary Gillian Keegan told Sky News on Wednesday. “If we give massive above-inflation rises not only would we have to pay a lot more money but it would actually fuel inflation.”
The last widespread strike by National Health Service nurses took place in 1988. It was led by smaller unions but was opposed by the RCN. But this time, the union argues the profession has been hit by a decade of real-term pay cuts, leading to record vacancies that harm patient safety.
If nurses do go ahead with the strike, officials say emergency care would be covered, but regular appointments canceled. Health workers in other unions, including ambulance staff, hospital porters and cleaners, are also voting on industrial action over pay.
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