Of those eligible to vote, 71% of members chose to accept the revised pay offer, with 29% voting to reject. The turnout was 50%.
The dispute led to two days of strike action by nurses on the island earlier this year, but a further offer from Manx Care was subsequently received, offering a consolidated increase of £1,500 to each pay point, with effect from 1 April 2022, in addition to the 6% increase already implemented.
Manx Care confirmed that the previous offer on which RCN members were surveyed in October had been withdrawn as the employer required the whole of staff side to agree for the award to be applied. As agreement could not be reached, the result of the previous survey was therefore void.
Estephanie Dunn, Regional Director for the RCN in the North West, said: “We are pleased that this long standing dispute has finally reached a conclusion. However, I am saddened that our members had to resort to strike action to reach this point. It now feels like an unnecessary disruption to what is already a very strained service, when this could have been resolved much more simply.
“Our members deserve to be valued for the highly complex skills they possess and for the work they do to uphold the health service and we stand by their decision to take the action they did. There is no doubt that our strike action prompted Manx Care to open talks.”
