Members of the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) employed by the Care Plus Group (CPG) are taking five days of industrial strike action this week ahead of the Christmas holidays.
Reluctantly, RCN members stepped up their action earlier this month in support of their continuing campaign for better pay and pay parity with nursing staff employed by the NHS. They will be taking strike action from 7.00am on Monday 18 December to 8.00am on Saturday 23 December (inclusive).
So far CPG have refused to enter into any meaningful discussions with the RCN to settle the dispute.
RCN members employed by CPG took strike action for the first time back on 25 August after being balloted earlier in the summer. 93% of RCN members who responded to the postal ballot voted in favour of strike action.
This phase of the pay campaign follows strike action in August, September, October and earlier this month. Further action is being planned for the New Year (2024) if CPG does not come to the negotiating table.
As part of their campaign, RCN members will also be in Grimsby town centre this week calling on the public to back them in their struggle for fair pay. They will be assembling outside Grimsby town hall on 20 December before marching through the town centre at 11.30 am.
Sarah Dodsworth, Regional Director for the RCN in Yorkshire and the Humber, said:
"I am incredibly disappointed and frustrated that the Care Plus Group simply refuse to engage in negotiations about nursing pay. They continue to ignore their own staff and the RCN. They are burying their heads in the sand and hoping that this issue will just go away.
“When you see the significant difference in pay between the NHS and non-NHS organisations, it's not surprising that people are leaving community health services or disregarding it as a career option altogether.
“Some staff receive £5,000 a year less than their NHS counterparts, whilst their terms and conditions are not comparable either. This is just unacceptable. These staff members are as hard-working and committed as those working in the NHS on Agenda for Change contracts.
“Given that inflation remains well above the government’s 2% target, their pay appears increasingly inadequate.
"CPG staff are committed, hard-working professionals providing, skilled, personalised, and compassionate care just like their NHS counterparts. They help to ease the burden on our already overstretched hospitals and don’t deserve to be financially worse off because of where they work.”
How you can help
You can help us today. Add your name to our petition to tell Humber and North Yorkshire ICB that enough is enough. Your local health and community nursing staff support you day in, day out, 365 days a year. Please show your support for them and sign our petition.
