At a meeting this morning (23 December) Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care Humza Yousaf told representatives of the RCN and other health trade unions that the Scottish government would be imposing the offer in the New Year.
The move comes despite 82% of RCN members who voted in our recent consultative ballot rejecting the pay offer.
Commenting on the imposition of the offer, Colin Poolman, RCN Scotland Director, said:
“There is no doubt that our members are long overdue a pay increase for this year, but this is not the Christmas present they deserve. RCN members working in the NHS resoundingly rejected this offer and now, for the second year in a row, the Scottish government is ignoring them and imposing what is a real-terms pay cut.
“I have written to the Cabinet Secretary to express the anger that I know many members will be feeling at this news. Mr Yousaf says that he is open to continuing discussions with the RCN to try to avert strike action, but any further talks must be meaningful. This pay offer is not what is needed to recognise our members’ safety critical role, stop nursing staff leaving the profession or attract the nurses of the future.
“We will continue our planning for strike action in the new year and early in January we will announce dates for historic strike action in Scotland. Our members do not want to go on strike but years of being ignored and understaffed have left them with no alternative.”
Members should make sure their membership details with the RCN are fully up to date, including place of employment and name of employer to continue to receive important updates from the RCN.
- Visit MyRCN to update your details
- Read our announcement about members' rejecting the current pay offer
- Check our website for further information
