Nurses braced for industrial action over proposed pay cut
Published: 24 August 2007
Nearly two-thirds of nurses would be willing to takeindustrial action if they receive an unsatisfactory pay deal this year, according to an independent poll of more than one thousand nurses for the Royal College of Nursing (RCN). With the Pay Review Body due to announce the 2007-08 recommended pay award for nurses any day now the RCN is urging the independent review body to give nurses a fair deal that reflects the real cost of living rather than the pay cut the government is proposing.
ICM surveyed 1,006 RCN members earlier this month[1]. Sixty-two percent said if they received an unsatisfactory pay award they would be willing to take some form of industrial action, such as refusing to work unpaid overtime, take on extra work or go on strike, provided patients did not suffer in the process[2].
The government has recommended the Pay Review Body offer nurses a 1.5% pay deal. With the real rate of inflation currently running at 4.2%[3], this amounts to a real terms pay cut of 2.7%. For the average nurse that means a £670.70 drop in their annual pay packet[4]. The RCN is urging the government not to use nurses - already the worst paid professionals in the public sector - as a tool to fight inflation.
Nine out of ten nurses (90 percent) say their cost of living has increased faster than any increase in pay over the past year, and 86% say they would consider a 1.5% pay award unfair, given the current rate of inflation.
Dr Peter Carter, RCN General Secretary, said:
"Ministers should be under no illusions - though industrial action is never a course of action we would take lightly - the RCN is not in the business of accepting a pay cut for our members.
"That so many nurses are considering industrial action is a sign of how desperate they have become. The government can no longer afford to be deaf to nurses' worries about the impact of deficit-driven cuts on patient care, nor blind to the consequences of imposing a below inflation pay award.”
"If ministers insist on cutting nurses’ pay in this way it will deal a damaging blow to staff morale. It will push new recruits and experienced staff out of the door, it will stall the modernisation programme and ultimately it will hurt patients. Wage discipline for the wider economic good is one thing but slashing nurses pay is not an option.
“Nurses deserve pay justice, not a pay cut."
The RCN is warning that the government’s plans to move care from hospitals into the community and to cut waiting times to 18 weeks will be derailed if they fail to reflect the dedication and skills of nurses in this year’s pay award. Nearly a third of nurses surveyed (29 percent) say an unsatisfactory pay award would make them consider quitting the NHS altogether - 16% would leave the NHS for the independent sector, while 13% would leave nursing completely.
Meanwhile, the myth that nurses stand to benefit from a 2.5-3% increment through improved terms and conditions in the Agenda for Change package is also dispelled with two thirds of nurses (66%) saying they do not expect to benefit this year.
Just over half of those surveyed (51%) rated their morale as either very poor or quite poor. Of those 76% blamed their low morale on their workload, 75% cited NHS financial problems and 62% job cuts as the biggest factors affecting on their morale.
-ends-
Notes to Editors
For further information, interviews or illustrations please contact the RCN Media Office on: 0207 647 3633, press.office@rcn.org.uk or visit http://www.rcn.org.uk/news/mediacentre.php
Royal College of Nursing (RCN) is the voice of nursing across the UK and is the largest professional union of nursing staff in the world. The RCN promotes the interest of nurses and patients on a wide range of issues and helps shape healthcare policy by working closely with the UK Government and other national and international institutions, trade unions, professional bodies and voluntary organisations.
[1] ICM surveyed 1006 RCN members between 2nd-8th February 2007.
[2] Rule 12 of the Rules of the RCN states: 'It is a fundamental principle of the RCN that its members shall not act in any way which is detrimental to the well being or interests of their patients or clients. Without prejudice to this fundamental principle, the Council is empowered to authorise action by members in furtherance of an industrial dispute and to make regulations governing the procedure to be followed.'
[3] Refers to the Retail Price Index (RPI) measure of inflation as of January 2007
[4] Based on an average wage of £24,841