Nurses in Northern Ireland could launch strike action after the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) announced it is to ballot members over a deepening row over pay.
In a statement issued this morning, the RCN said nursing staff here will join colleagues across the UK in voting on industrial action.
The ballot will ask members if they are prepared to strike over low pay.
The RCN has called for a pay rise of 5 per cent above inflation, which is currently around 11.8 per cent.
Health Minister Robin Swann has previously warned that the pay increases could not be implemented without an agreed Stormont budget.
The DUP has blocked the formation of an Executive as part of its protest against the post-Brexit Northern Ireland Protocol.
RCN members went on strike for the first time in the body's history in Northern Ireland in 2019.
Fiona Devlin, Chair of the RCN Northern Ireland Board said: "After years of underpayment and staff shortages, the fight for fair pay continues.
“Nursing staff in Northern Ireland do not even know if they will receive a pay award this year. However, we are acutely aware that the pay award for colleagues in England and Wales does nothing to help with the spiralling costs of living and will do nothing to recruit or retain more nursing staff.
“A below inflation pay award does not recognise the skills and responsibility of the job we do and, more importantly, will not improve patient safety. We are appealing to members to vote for change – enough is enough.”
Rita Devlin, Director of the RCN in Northern Ireland said: “It is quite unbelievable that three years after we took industrial action for the first time in the RCN’s history, that we’re asking members if they will take strike action again. This has not been an easy decision.
“Serious shortages of nursing staff are putting patient safety at risk every single day. Governments across the UK have failed to take action on this issue and in Northern Ireland, with no functioning Northern Ireland Executive to appeal to, nursing staff have not received a pay offer at all.
