The petition was started after the union recommended its members accept the proposed NHS pay offer.
Staff working at the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) have been accused of sabotaging a petition calling for a vote of no confidence in the union.
A petition calling for a vote of no confidence in the RCN’s senior leadership team, including Chief Executive and General Secretary Pat Cullen, was launched just hours after the RCN actively urged its members to accept a proposed 5% pay deal.
The union subsequently claimed that “hundreds” of names, including one of a deceased member, were added “fraudulently” to the petition and deemed it “invalidated”.
In a statement released to NursingNotes, an anonymous committee of petitioners is claiming foul play, proposing that only RCN staff would have the means and motive to add names and membership numbers to the petition.
No evidence.
The group, who say they have been forced to operate anonymously since a warning was issued by the union, say they have been “validating signatures” and claim they have seen “no evidence” that hundreds of signatures were added fraudulently.
“This is also not something that an RCN member could do. The Petition requires a correct membership name, email address and membership number. If those membership numbers and other details are correct, then such data must have come from somewhere inside the RCN.”
The petitioners warned, “Members do not have access to the RCN Membership Database, only RCN staff do.”
Before concluding, “Members would not have the ability, motivation, or need to sabotage their own petition with hundreds of member details who had not volunteered to sign. Coincidently this is the first time that RCN staff have been the subject of a “No Confidence” petition.
“The petitioners have no control over who signs the petitions and these are submitted in good faith. Anyone who submitted false names would know that this would be revealed during the validation process. It does appear that the previous petition was sabotaged by someone with access to the RCN Membership Database and with the desire to see this petition discredited.”
An external investigation.
The RCN did not respond to the accusations of staff sabotage directly but confirmed an “external investigation is underway”.
The union explained, “Members whose names appear on the petition will receive contact from the company this week. We are asking as many people as possible to support their attempt to get to the bottom of this data misuse.
“We respectfully ask individuals and campaign groups to keep comments factual and respectful while this investigation proceeds.”
When asked to confirm if a crime had been reported to Police, the RCN further clarified that “the police will be involved as required”.
