This updated handbook explains the RCN’s framework for industrial action, covering legal requirements, approval processes, member responsibilities, and dispute resolution. 

It outlines types of action, including strikes and action short of a strike, and details the steps required before action can take place, including negotiations, ballots, and approval by RCN Council. Guidance is provided on patient safety, derogations, picketing, and professional obligations during disputes. It also explains legal protections, strike benefits, governance structures, and procedures for resolving and ending industrial action. The handbook includes country-specific legal variations across the UK and Crown Dependencies, ensuring members understand their rights, responsibilities, and the rules governing lawful industrial action.

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Published by the Royal College of Nursing, 20 Cavendish Square, London, W1G 0RN.

© 2016 Royal College of Nursing. This publication in hard copy format may not be lent, resold, hired out or otherwise disposed of by way of trade in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published, without the prior consent of the publishers.

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