NHS - RCN to ballot on pay action
WORKERS, JUNE 2007 ISSUE
THE COUNCIL of the Royal College of Nursing has agreed to conduct an indicative ballot of its NHS members to decide if they wish to take industrial action over this year's pay offer of 1.9 per cent. The indicative poll will ask members if they want a second ballot on industrial action and what type of action they would be prepared to take. It is the second ballot that will decide if industrial action is taken.
Dr Peter Carter, RCN General Secretary, said, "This is an historic decision by Council which has not been arrived at lightly. The very fact we are holding a ballot is a powerful political statement that the Government must take notice of. We need to make sure that Government puts the cost of our pay offer into perspective. It will only cost around £60 million to pay nurses the difference between a staged and unstaged award. This is not a great deal when you consider that recent figures show the NHS spends half a billion on management consultants."