It comes just hours after their union advised them to accept a below-inflation pay offer.
Nursing staff are attempting to trigger a vote of no confidence in their union over the recently announced NHS pay deal.
The move comes just hours after the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) advised its members to accept a pay deal. The amount negotiated for NHS workers falls significantly short of the “above-inflation” calls touted since 2020 by health unions.
Requiring 1,000 signatures to enact, a petition calls for an “Extraordinary General Meeting” (EGM) to be held during the union’s annual congress being held in May.
Created by former senior members of the union, it calls for members to have a vote of no confidence in the RCN’s senior leadership team, including Chief Executive and General Secretary Pat Cullen, alongside their pay negotiators and ruling Council.
The petition reads, “Following the decision taken by RCN Council on Thursday 16th March 2023, to recommend that RCN members accept the 2023 pay deal in England… we the undersigned instruct that an extraordinary general meeting of The Royal College of Nursing be held on Saturday 13th May 2023 in Brighton.”
A terrible deal.
NursingNotes has been told that similar letters are being prepared for the other health unions involved in the pay negotiations.
A snap survey of our readers found that just 33% would vote to accept the deal when it is is put to members.
Grassroots campaign group Nurses United have dubbed the deal “terrible” warning it only adds to the 12 years of real terms pay cuts.
Lead organiser Anthony Johnson said, “After 12 years of patients struggling to get treatment because of a lack of staff and 12 years of nurses skipping meals and crying at work, we’re being offered another terrible deal which cuts NHS pay in real terms.
“This will do nothing to stop the thousands of staff leaving. This does nothing to reward staff for the work they put in day after day to keep things afloat.
“We need to restore our pay back to the real terms levels it was in 2010. That’s the only thing that will improve staffing levels which is so necessary to bring our NHS back to safety.
The group went on to ask that NHS workers “reject this pay cut”.
