Furious nurses have warned they will go ahead with a ballot for industrial action following the Government’s refusal to commit to extending the larger rises that were this week conceded to police and prison officers.
Even a revolt by the Democratic Unionist Party, whose 10 MPs are crucial to the survival of Theresa May’s minority government, failed to win any pro
mises from the Government that the seven-year pay cap will be lifted for nurses and millions of other public servants.
One of the great fears of the Royal College of Nursing and other public sector unions is that even if they are eventually included in the easing of the 1% pay cap the rise might not be matched by new funding so it would have to come out of existing departmental budgets.
That would mean cuts elsewhere in the NHS or further reductions in staff numbers, with nurses already declaring that staff shortages and excessive workloads are the greatest force driving thousands of nurses to leave their jobs.
The RCN said the refusal of the Government to promise an end to the pay cap for the NHS in the face of enormous political and public pressure meant the college would go ahead with preparations for a ballot on unprecedented strike action.
Janet Davies, the chief executive of the RCN said the Government was mistaken if it thought it could placate nurses with “vague signals” of future wage flexibility after allowing wages to fall 14% behind inflation since 2010.
“Our campaign will not cease until there is concrete proof that the cap has been lifted explicitly for next year,” she said.
“Ministers must listen to tens of thousands of nurses who are campaigning on this and put in writing that the cap no longer applies to NHS staff. We will continue fighting until there is evidence that next year’s pay body can recommend more than a 1% rise.”
The DUP broke from the Conservative Party for the first time since this year’s general election by backing a non-binding Labour motion calling for greater NHS pay rises.
Even then the promise of “more flexibility” did not guarantee the cap would be fully lifted, and unions said there was a worrying precedent in the fact that this week’s rises for police and prison matches has not been matched by any extra funding for those services.
Unions have demanded a 5% pay rise, which would cost an estimated £9bn across the public sector.
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn accused the Government of trying to “divide and rule” by picking off police and prison officers for rises when the prison guard union in particular was preparing for industrial action.
“We must be united in breaking the pay cap for ALL workers,” Corbyn said.
Even this week’s rises of 2% for police – including a 1% bonus which will not carry over to the following year’s wages – and 1.7% for prison officers were derided by union officials as real pay cuts, as they were still below the latest inflation rate, which hit 2.9% this week.
Steve Gillan, the head of the prison officers’ union, rejected the 1.7% offer as “not acceptable”, saying his union would “be looking to co-ordinate action with other trade unions.”
The DUP said its decision to back Labour’s motion demanding a “fair pay rise” for NHS workers did not threaten its “confidence and supply” deal with the Government, which commits the Northern Ireland party to back the Conservatives only on finance bills, Brexit legislation and protecting “national security”.
The DUP is still committed to backing the Government’s budget in November, which is when the Government will have to show its intentions on NHS wages.
Jonathan Ashworth, Labour’s Shadow Health Secretary, said the Prime Minister should now respect the clear wish of the House of Commons and lift NHS pay.
“The real question is will the government now ignore the clear will of the House or will it take action to end the pay cap in the NHS,” he said.
Peter Wilson
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