Nurses in the health service in England, Wales and Northern Ireland have begun voting on whether the 3.6% pay rise offered by the government is enough.
Members of the Royal College of Nursing are taking part in a consultative ballot on the pay settlement, which is backdated to April, for nurses on Agenda for Change contracts.
RCN general secretary and chief executive Professor Nicola Ranger said a pay award of 3.6% would be “entirely swallowed up by inflation and do nothing to change the status quo, where nursing is not valued, too few enter the profession, and too many quit”.
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Last month’s inflation figures showed that the consumer prices index in the year to April leapt to 3.5%, up from 2.6% in March.
However, the retail prices index, the trade unions’ preferred inflation measure, rose from 3.2% in March to 4.5% in April.
The ballot is for RCN members working in the NHS in England and Wales, and for Health and Social Care (HSC) in Northern Ireland. Nurses, midwives and other NHS workers in Scotland have already accepted an 8.2% two-year pay deal.
Ranger said: “It is time to show that nursing staff are valued and, from today, hundreds of thousands of RCN members working in the NHS and HSC will give their verdict on whether 3.6% is enough.
“When you vote, I don’t just want you to vote on the fairness of the award itself, but also if it’s enough to turn our profession around.”
Danny Mortimer, chief executive of NHS Employers, said: “The recent differential pay awards have meant, understandably, that many staff groups may feel unfairly treated. We believe that the most effective way to address the concerns of RCN members that will be expressed in this ballot is to commit together to long-term, sustainable reform of Agenda for Change.
“Health leaders would encourage all unions to then try to resolve the frustrations of their members through dialogue and engagement, so that we can make progress together on the longer-term improvement of our reward offer to staff.”
The Royal College of Midwives launched a similar pay consultation with its members in the three countries on 29 May.
Unite, which represents staff working across the NHS in almost every professional group, has urged members to reject the “insultingly low” 3.6% award in a consultative ballot launched last week, and is also balloting members on whether they would be prepared to take strike action.
Resident doctors, members of the British Medical Association, are currently voting in a strike ballot which closes on 7 July.
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