NURSES could be set for strike action in a dispute over the denial of a pay award given to colleagues across the water.
The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) governing Council has approved the next steps towards a statutory ballot for industrial action.
The organisation has written to the Northern Ireland Executive and employers to formally notify them of the dispute, and it is expected that RCN members will be balloted in the autumn.
Professor Rita Devlin, Executive Director of the RCN in Northern Ireland said: "For the third year running, nursing staff in Northern Ireland find themselves in the unacceptable position of having to fight for a pay award that has already been delivered to colleagues across the rest of the UK. Once again, our members are being asked to wait while political leaders fail to deliver what they are entitled to receive.
“Despite clear support from the previous Health Minister for this award to be implemented, the Northern Ireland Executive’s failure to secure a budget has once again denied nursing staff a pay award. This is being felt most acutely by those already facing rising household bills and sustained cost-of-living pressures. With no award in place to offset inflation, nursing staff are effectively experiencing a real-terms pay cut.
“Year upon year, we have said that it is not unreasonable to expect a pay award to be planned and delivered on time, but year upon year, this simply doesn’t happen in Northern Ireland. The fact that we may now end up on picket lines just to get the pay award that has been recommended and agreed is nothing short of a farce.
“This pay uplift barely covers the rising cost of living, yet we still cannot get it paid. We are approaching an Assembly election next year and those working in the health service need to make their voices heard. It is incredible that this same situation is repeated every year and is certainly not reflective of a system that is working.
“The anger amongst the nursing community that this has been allowed to happen again is palpable. Nursing staff, who have shown unwavering commitment to patients and services through some of the most challenging years the health service has ever faced, deserve better than this cycle of delay, uncertainty and broken promises.
“Industrial action is never our preferred option. However, if it is the only way to secure the pay award nursing staff have earned and are owed, we will not hesitate to take action.”
Sinn Féin health spokesperson Philip McGuigan said that for the fourth yearn a row nurses and healthcare workers "face uncertainty and delay over their pay award".
“Our nurses and healthcare workers are under enormous pressure. They have continued to deliver for patients and our health service in incredibly challenging circumstances, and they deserve fair pay," he said.
“The British government must step up and deliver a proper, sustainable funding package for public services in the north.
“Our health service needs the resources to recruit and retain staff, reduce waiting lists and provide the care people here deserve.
“I am calling on the Health Minister to urgently and meaningfully engage with the RCN and trade union representatives to find a resolution to this dispute.
“Nurses and healthcare workers deserve certainty, fairness and respect. They should not have to wait year after year for the pay award they are entitled to.”
