This story was first published in digitalhealth.net
78 per cent of RCN members vote to strike
Michael Brown, chair of the Royal College of Nursing’s (RCN) Council has announced that 91 per cent of members would take industrial action short of strike, with 78 per cent saying they were prepared to strike.
The news comes as new figures released by the College show approximately 40,000 unfilled nurse posts in England, with 12,000 more health care support worker vacancies. Mental health and community care are experiencing the greatest shortages.
Brown has proposed an emergency resolution calling for a summer of planned protest activity, followed by an industrial action ballot, should the next UK government fail to end the policy of pay restraint.
The RCN highlighted that unprecedented results show a real appetite for industrial action from RCN members for the first time ever. While the turnout was not enough to mandate a formal ballot, Brown said: “Getting 52,000 NHS members taking part shows the strength of feeling about pay restraint – and the percentage in favour of taking action cannot be ignored.”
Ed Freshwater from the RCN Mental Health Forum said: “Relentless undermining has pushed us to breaking point. No more. This ends now. We’ve had the poll, let’s have the action.”
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