UK Nursing Union Ballots 300,000 Members for Strike Over Pay as Inflation Soars

One RCN member told the BBC morning that nurses needed a major pay rise to make ends meet — stressing that she had been forced to claim state benefits since going part-time as she could not afford childcare on her salary.

The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) has launched its first nation-wide strike ballot of more than 300,000 members.

Th UK's second-biggest nursing union is demanding a pay rise of five per cent above the rate of inflation, currently around 10 per cent. The government has budgeted for a rise of £1,400 a year, or around four per cent, for nurses in the National Health Service (NHS).

The RCN said on Thursday the rise was needed not only to keep up with the cost-of-living crisis, but to make up for years of effective pay cuts caused by the public-sector pay freeze imposed from 2010 as part of former PM David Cameron's austerity drive following the 'Credit Crunch' banking crisis.

RCN General Secretary Pat Cullen said the nursing profession was "understaffed, undervalued and underpaid."

"For years our profession has been pushed to the edge, and now patient safety is paying the price," she said. "We can’t stand by and watch our colleagues and patients suffer anymore."

Cullen said that while industrial action was a "last resort, it is a powerful tool for change," urging members to vote 'yes' to the walk-out.

The nurses' leader stressed that patients would not be at risk if the strike went ahead, as staff would continue to provide critical hospital care.

One RCN member named Victoria, a mental health nurse, told BBC Breakfast on Thursday morning that she had been forced to claim Universal Credit state benefits since going part-time as she could not afford childcare on her salary.

"If I'm going to work and I'm making a difference in people's lives, I feel like I should be able to have pay to sustain myself and look after my children."

Our member Victoria and General Secretary @patcullen9 appeared on @BBCBreakfast today as @theRCN's strike ballot opens pic.twitter.com/NCTfUXORrM

— RCN Press Office (@RCN_Press) October 6, 2022

The RCN is just the latest trade union to ballot members for a wave of strikes across multiple sectors as pay offers fail to keep up with soaring inflation.

The cost-of-living crisis has its roots in massive government spending during the COVID-19 pandemic. But it has been amplified by the energy crisis caused by Western sanctions on Russia over its operation in Ukraine, including the UK's embargo on gas, oil and coal imports.