Members of the Royal College of Nursing will not strike as planned next month after the union re-entered talks with the Welsh Government to address non-pay elements of their dispute. The union has "paused" the strikes scheduled for July 12 and 13 in the hope some agreement can be made.
The union is in dispute with the Welsh Government over non-pay elements, and wans it to commit to improving the working lives of the nursing workforce in order to future-proof the profession. Nurses also want concerns about patient safety to be addressed.
While RCN members rejected the Welsh Government's final pay offer, the revised pay package has been implemented after the majority of health unions voted to accept the deal. RCN members voted to undertake strike action.
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A ballot asking members if they wanted to take more strike action this year was due to take place on July 3. This will also be put on hold as the RCN re-enters talks. Nurses took part in two days of strike action earlier this month. For more health stories like this straight to your inbox, sign up to our newsletter here.
RCN Wales Director, Helen Whyley, said: “Our strike action in June has clearly been effective as the Welsh government has listened to RCN members' voices about issues facing nursing in Wales and have reached out to RCN Wales for official discussions on non-pay elements of working conditions. For this reason, we are pausing the planned strikes for July and the statutory ballot action asking members to vote on more industrial action for the rest of the year.
“Industrial action continues to be a last resort for nursing staff, and I have heard their stories of the personal sacrifice they make every day fighting for safe care for their patients that pushed them to vote for strike action. The pressure put on the Welsh government by our members has been key to these talks commencing.”
"RCN Wales Board has agreed that next month’s ballot launch and strike action should be put on hold and that we should return to official talks on behalf our members in Wales. Welsh Government has the power the end this ongoing dispute. We are hopeful that the discussions with Welsh Government will result in significant positive outcomes for NHS nursing staff in Wales, that will improve their terms and conditions of employment in addition to the pay award that has been implemented.
“These latest discussions will be time limited and the RCN will update its members on the outcomes from these talks in due course.”
