The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) is set to unveil the results of its strike ballot this week after making recommendations to its 300,000 members that they walk out.
This is the first time the RCN has balloted all its members for strike action in its 106-year history.
Early indications are that a large majority of nurses have voted in favour of action in a dispute over pay with the first strike expected before Christmas.
If, as expected, nurses do vote in favour of industrial action, it will be the first time that nurses have joined a national strike over a pay dispute. And the strike is likely to see patients facing even more disruption in the middle of an NHS waiting list crisis.
Pat Cullen, RCN general secretary and chief executive, said: “Our strike action will be as much for patients as it is for nurses. We have their support in doing this.”
Starting salaries for nurses in England are currently just above £27,000, rising to nearly £55,000 for the most senior nurses with the RCN calling for a rise of 5% above the RPI inflation rate which currently stands at above 12%.
In England and Wales, NHS staff, including nurses, have been given an average of 4.75% more, with extra for the lowest paid.
