UK: Nurses' strike ends after low voter turnout

The threat of more strikes by British nurses ended on Tuesday (June 27) after the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) said that a vote on industrial action had not met the legal threshold. The RCN said that it had got votes for more strikes from 100,000 members but that the turnout for voting was only 43 per cent. The statutory minimum is 50 per cent.

Nurses in England were voting on a six-month renewal of strike action, after turning down a five per cent government pay offer.

RCN general secretary Pat Cullen said in April that the nurses were prepared to strike till Christmas if an improved offer was not forthcoming.

She acknowledged on Tuesday that the result would be disappointing but promised that the "fight for the fair pay and safe staffing of our profession, our patients and our NHS deserve is far from over".

“To every one of you who took part, whether by voting or encouraging others to, thank you. We have so much to be proud of," Cullen told members in an e-mail as quoted by the Independent.

“While the vast majority of members who returned their ballot papers voted in favour of strike action, we did not meet the 50 per centturnout threshold necessary for us to be able to take further strike action."

Cullen said that she was going to meet UK PM Rishi Sunak on Tuesday.

NHS under pressure

State-run National Health Service (NHS) has been under pressure due to successive walkouts by nurses. The NHS is trying hard to cut waiting lists for appointments and treatment.

The walk-outs were part of a series of public and private sector strikes which were stoked by soaring inflation as well as demands for wages to keep pace with the increased cost of living.

The health ministry called the nurses' strikes "hugely disruptive" and called on other unions to end their disputes.

Hospital doctors in England last week announced a five-day strike for next month -- the longest in the NHS's 75-year history.

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