The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) has called strike action in Northern Ireland and issued a stark warning to politicians that they must accelerate efforts to pay nursing staff fairly.
RCN members working in Northern Ireland will take to picket lines on 18 January alongside other trade unions as they fight for pay parity with nursing staff in England. This is the first time RCN members have been called to take strike action since December 2022.
Over the past nine months, RCN members in Northern Ireland have waited patiently for the implementation of the 2023-2024 Agenda for Change pay offer. Last month, it was widely reported that the funds for the pay offer had been made available.
However, with no functioning Assembly and Executive in Northern Ireland, and inaction from the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, the pay offer has not been given to nursing staff, and once again they have fallen behind colleagues in other parts of the UK.
The RCN is consulting members in England about their experience of strike action and their appetite for fresh action.
Rita Devlin, Director of the RCN in Northern Ireland said:
“It has been four years since nurses in Northern Ireland first took strike action to ensure pay parity with colleagues in England and Wales. It is nothing short of immoral that we have been put in this position once again and are the lowest paid nursing staff in the UK. What an indictment on how we treat health care workers and the value we place on them.
“Just this week our emergency departments, once again, have been struggling to cope with the numbers of very sick patients who need treatment. And who are we depending upon to meet that challenge?
“Low pay is making it very difficult to retain nursing staff in the health service and we are not willing to tolerate this any longer. Patients and staff are suffering every single day due to the lack of political movement which not only affects pay but prevents the transformation of services that has been needed for years. We have no choice but to take further action.”
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Notes to editors
1. Members of the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) in Northern Ireland will join other trade unions to take strike action on 18 January 2024 in response to the failure to award a pay deal in line with colleagues across the UK. Further details on strike action including times and locations will be announced in the coming weeks.
2. The RCN balloted members in October and November 2022 over pay levels and patient safety concerns. RCN members in Northern Ireland voted overwhelmingly to take strike action. While a pay offer as been implemented in other parts of the UK, nursing staff in Northern Ireland have yet to receive a pay offer for 2023-2024.
