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Welsh nurses back plan to ballot for strikes over pay

The Royal College of Nursing (RCN), which represents nurses across the UK, have said unless the next Government drops the 1% cap on pay it will hold a ballot on industrial action later this year.

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Head of RCN in Wales says politicians "not listening"

Tina Donnelly, head of the RCN in Wales Credit: ITV News

The director of the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) in Wales has told ITV News that nurses were not being listened to, and that the idea they would have to strike over pay was "absolutely appalling".

It comes after a voluntary poll shows overwhelming support from RCN members to back strike action if the UK Government does not consider dropping its 1% cap on pay.

52,000 members working in the NHS, including some in Wales, took part in a poll which measured the members' appetite for industrial action.

In the ballot, nine out of ten voiced support for action short of a strike, while almost four out of five backed strikes.

We've heard quite moving statements from nursing and healthcare support workers this morning whereby nurses are having to work or take on two or three extra jobs in order to live. Doctors and nurses having to go on strike in a national health service delivered system is absolutely appalling and if we actually get to that level then certainly we're in a pretty dire straight where politicians are not listening to people who are caring for their most vulnerable at their times of need.

– TINA DONELLY, DIRECTOR, RCN WALES

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