Nurses across Scotland have joined colleagues across the UK by voting to strike over pay, with action expected to start next month.
Lanarkshire members of the Royal College of Nursing (RCN), discovered the results of their ballot today.
The action is over pay disputes after failed attempts to come to a pay agreement.
RCN general secretary and chief executive Pat Cullen said: “I want to thank every member who took part in, or supported, this ballot. You can be very proud. The results are strong and clear.
“This is a defining moment in our history, and our fight will continue through strike action and beyond for as long as it takes to win justice for the nursing profession and our patients.
“Anger has become action – our members are saying enough is enough. The voice of nursing in the UK is strong and I will make sure it is heard. Our members will no longer tolerate a financial knife-edge at home and a raw deal at work.
“Ministers must look in the mirror and ask how long they will put nursing staff through this. While we plan our strike action, next week’s budget is the UK government’s opportunity to signal a new direction with serious investment. Across the country, politicians have the power to stop this now and at any point.
“This action will be as much for patients as it is for nurses. Standards are falling too low and we have strong public backing for our campaign to raise them.
"This winter, we are asking the public to show nursing staff you are with us.”
This is the first time that the RCN has voted for strike action in its 106-year history.
Overall results show members at the majority of NHS employers across the UK have voted to take strike action in their fight for fair pay and safe staffing.
Strikes will now take place at the NHS trusts or health boards that have met the relevant legal requirements.
All NHS employers in Scotland and Northern Ireland will be included and all bar one of the health boards in Wales met the relevant legal thresholds.
Many of the biggest hospitals in England will see strike action by RCN members but others narrowly missed the legal turnout thresholds to qualify for action.
The RCN has announced that nurses at many hospitals and other areas of the NHS care will take action before Christmas and are expected to continue striking until May next year.
The Scottish Government has offered a flat rate of around £2205, however the RCN has asked for a five per cent increase above the rate of inflation, which is over 12 per cent.
SNP Health Secretary Humza Yousaf has said the deal on the table is the largest since devolution, which the RCN blasted as “misleading”.
Speaking after the offer was made on October 21, Mr Yousaf said: “We are rightly focusing on the biggest increases for those who are the lowest paid, as we know the cost crisis is impacting them disproportionately.”
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