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The Royal College of Nursing said on Monday that its members in England had rejected a pay award described by UK chancellor Rachel Reeves as the first “meaningful” uplift for public sector workers since 2010.
Reeves, speaking at the Labour party conference in Liverpool, defended her decision in July to back above-inflation pay rises for many public sector workers, despite the strains on the public finances.
“I am proud to stand here as the first chancellor in 14 years to have delivered a meaningful real pay rise to millions of public sector workers,” she said in a set-piece address to conference, calling it “the right choice for the British public” and for recruitment and retention.
Within minutes of her speech, however, the RCN said its members had voted by a two-thirds majority to reject the NHS offer of a 5.5 per cent pay rise for 2024/25, which is set to be reflected in monthly pay from October.
Nicola Ranger, the RCN’s general secretary, said in a letter to health secretary Wes Streeting that the results of the ballot showed that members’ expectations of government were “far higher”.
“Our members do not yet feel valued and they are looking for urgent action, not rhetorical commitments,” the letter continued, calling for action to address “understaffed shifts, poor patient care and nursing careers trapped at the lowest pay grades”.