US EditionNurses threaten industrial action ballot after rejecting pay increase
ENGLAND, WALES, AND NORTHERN IRELAND, JUL 31 – Nurses overwhelmingly rejected a 3.6% pay increase, citing vacancies and pay erosion, with 91% voting against the offer in a 56% turnout, prompting a strike ballot threat.
- Members of the Royal College of Nursing in England voted overwhelmingly against a proposed 3.6% salary raise for the 2025/26 period, with 91% opposing the offer and a turnout of 56%.
- The ballot followed unprecedented industrial action by nurses in 2022 and 2023 and the RCN threatens further industrial action if no investment agreement is reached this summer.
- The government maintains that it cannot increase headline pay further but is prepared to collaborate with the RCN to tackle key issues such as revising pay structures, improving career advancement opportunities, and enhancing working conditions.
- A DHSC spokesperson confirmed that, following two pay rises exceeding inflation, newly qualified full-time nurses will receive a starting salary of £30,000 this year, although RCN members remain unhappy with the increase, while nearly a quarter of the public strongly oppose strike action.
- The vote rejection and industrial tensions highlight a broken pay and career system that hampers the NHS and signal the urgent need for long-overdue reforms critical to patient safety and staff retention.
26 Articles
26 Articles
Threat of more NHS strikes as Streeting tells nurses there's no extra money
NHS hospitals could be hit by more strikes this summer after Wes Streeting warned nurses he could not meet their demands for higher pay.The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) voted overwhelmingly to reject the Government’s pay offer of 3.6 per cent for this year and warned that they will ballot members for strike action if the Health Secretary does not agree to improved pay and career progression.Streeting insisted he will not back down on “headline…
It’s no surprise that nurses want to strike
Wes Streeting was recently revealed to have said in private that junior doctors (or resident doctors, as they now like to be called) must be made to ‘feel pain’ for going on strike – for fear of encouraging other public sector workers to copy their example. Today comes a reminder of why he said it:
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