NURSES in Northern Ireland have warned of “imminent strike action” over a “continued failure” to award their latest pay increase.
The Royal College of Nursing are in dispute after a 3.6% pay uplift awarded in other UK regions has yet to be delivered.
Answering Assembly questions on Monday, health minister Mike Nesbitt said he was now “less optimistic” of a solution to stop the strike.
A formal process will soon take place to begin balloting members for strike action, with the RCN stating that “empty promises don’t pay the bills.”
Professor Rita Devlin, The RCN’s Executive Director in Northern Ireland said: “This time last week, we held out hope that the Northern Ireland Executive would finally act to resolve this crisis.
“Instead, we are once again out of pay parity with our UK colleagues. The Northern Ireland Executive has reneged on its commitment to maintaining pay parity for nurses.
“It is not unreasonable to expect a pay award to be planned and delivered on time but currently, we don’t have a commitment or timeline for the payment of the 3.6% uplift which has been paid to our colleagues across the UK.”
Rita Devlin, Director of the Royal College of Nursing in Northern Ireland.
Calling it “nothing short of shameful” that Stormont politicians were forcing nurses back onto the picket lines, she said the pay uplift barely covers the rising cost of living.
“The damage being caused to staff morale over this issue is unquantifiable and I have no doubt this will be reflected in how nursing staff vote in the next election,” she said.
“It is very clear to our members that they are not seen as important or valued by those in power when something as simple as a pay award, which they knew was coming, cannot be delivered.
“How can we promote nursing as a respected and rewarding career when our professionals are treated with such disregard year after year? I am beyond disappointed; I am angry and disgusted that we have reached this point.”
The RCN are now calling on the Stormont Executive to act immediately as strike action appears to be the “only option” left to resolve the dispute.
Health Minister Mike Nesbitt signed off on the pay award in May and last month warned nurses would strike unless a £200m funding gap was bridged.
This is part of an estimated £614m shortfall facing health.
Last week, the Finance Minister John O’Dowd criticised the UK Government for “failing to provide sufficient funding for public services” but said he had “no doubt” the money could be found.
Answering Assembly questions on Monday, Mr Nesbitt said he was now “less optimistic.”
“I am less optimistic than I was a couple of weeks ago, but I still think it’s going to be resolved,” he told MLAs.
“Because even if it does lead to strike action, and I pray to God it does not, at some point this pay issue will have to be resolved and I think if we allow it go to strike action it will have an impact on service delivery, on waiting lists, on staff morale.
“And the bottom line is that when it is resolved, it will cost more to resolve than it would cost to sort it out today.”
Even with a health budget of £8.4bn, Mr Nesbitt said this was still “not sufficient” to avoid pay awards being missed every year.
“What we need to do is reform how we deliver health and social care so that we can be more efficient which will make those pay awards more affordable.”