Fair Pay for Nursing Campaign Timeline

RCN launches Fair Pay for Nursing campaign.

We hosted regular Q&As with members about our campaign.

Dame Donna Kinnair delivers a powerful message to government in her first major speech to RCN members since COVID-19 pandemic declared, responded to the Government’s announcement of the Spending Review in November and launched our email your MP action for members to email their MPs ahead of the Spending Review. Every MP across the UK received an email about the campaign.

We signed a joint letter with other health unions to demand an early pay rise to value staff and took the campaign to Westminster and asked MPs if they Clapped us? Back us. New polling shows public support for a pay rise for nursing staff remains high during the pandemic. The Spending review is missed opportunity to give NHS nursing staff early and significant pay rise as RCN opposes pay freeze for other public sector workers. We hosted our first virtual rally for the campaign, and we launch our petition to the Prime Minister to demand an early and significant pay rise for nursing.

We responded to the Scotland Government announcement of a COVID-19 bonus and a government remit letter to the NHS pay review body.

We urge prime minister to speed up NHS pay rise as poll shows public in favour, submitted evidence to the NHS pay review body (PRB) outlining our pay claim and reiterating our demand for a fully funded 12.5% pay increase for nursing staff, and held our second virtual event for the campaign.

Valuing You Week - A week of online webinars providing RCN members with practical support.

We respond to the government’s PRB evidence outlining a headline 1% pay award in England, the COVID bonus in Wales and Senedd debate on NHS pay. Dame Donna Kinnair addresses RCN members at our Joint Representative conference. RCN members give evidence to the NHS pay body review as analysis confirms nurses' real-terms pay cut. Members in Scotland consider pay offer for NHS Scotland Agenda for Change staff.

We respond to and open consultative ballot on NHS pay offer for RCN members in Scotland.

RCN members in Scotland reject the Scottish government pay offer and express their disappointment. New polling shows public support remains strong for a proper wage rise for NHS staff in England. RCN calls for members to update their details to receive campaign updates.

RCN members in Scotland notified the Scottish government and NHS Scotland employers that they are in a trade union dispute over pay. It followed the Scottish government’s decision to implement a single-year NHS pay deal for 2021-22 for Agenda for Change staff without further discussing RCN members’ rejection of the deal.

We made a public appeal to the new Health Secretary his immediate priority must be tackling the shortage of nursing staff by paying them fairly for their highly skilled work. We also joined other health unions in writing to Sajid Javid to stress the importance of pay in ensuring the NHS is prepared to deal with its many post-pandemic challenges.

We entered formal negotiations with Marie Curie on behalf of our members after they voted to reject their pay offer. We condemned the delay in the NHS pay award announcement and, once the pay awards for NHS staff in England and Wales was announced, responded that it was a bitter blow to nursing staff and committed to consulting our members on what response they want to take. We launched our Summer of Action to protest the below inflation NHS pay award and urged members to get involved.

We launch our app to help members campaign for fair pay for nursing and launch the NHS pay consultation for RCN members working for the NHS in England and Wales to say whether a 3% pay award is acceptable or not.

Eligible RCN members in England and Wales voted in our consultative ballot on the 3% pay award for NHS Agenda for Change staff.  The vast majority of RCN members who voted say 3% is unacceptable.