England: Nurses Reject 5.5% Pay Raise Offer
About two-thirds of England's 145K National Health Service (NHS) nurses voted to reject the Labour Government's offer of a 5.5% pay raise for 2024-25, which was first proposed by Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves in July....
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Facts
- About two-thirds of England's 145K National Health Service (NHS) nurses voted to reject the Labour Government's offer of a 5.5% pay raise for 2024-25, which was first proposed by Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves in July.[1][2]
- The 5.5% offer would give newly registered nurses with a band five salary a raise of £1.5K ($2K), bringing their annual salary to £30K ($40K). They would receive another raise after two years of work.[3]
- This rejection follows the acceptance of a 5.5% increase by other health unions, as well as a multi-year raise accepted by junior doctors last week.[2]
- The junior doctors received a combined 22% pay raise for 2023-24 and 2024-25 after going on strike for 44 days. The RCN claims that, since 2010, nurses in the UK have seen their pay drop by nearly 25% in real terms.[4][5]
- According to the Royal College of Nursing (RCN), which represents the nurses, the voter turnout to reject the pay offer was higher than previous statutory votes held in 2022 and 2023 — the former having led to a six-month strike.[6]
- The RCN also noted that there are 32K NHS nursing vacancies in England and a 21% decline in nursing student applications since 2021. In response, Health Secretary Wes Streeting emphasized how the pay raise was above inflation.[4]
Sources: [1]BBC News (a), [2]Sky News, [3]The Telegraph, [4]Guardian, [5]BBC News (b) and [6]LBC.
Narratives
- Labour narrative, as provided by New Statesman. While this rejection is a setback for Prime Minister Keir Starmer's economic agenda, it's important to remember that under Rachel Reeves' treasury department, the government has secured significant pay raises for millions of government workers. In contrast to the previous government's policy of gutting the public sector, Labour is focused on allocating money where it matters most — paychecks.
- Progressive narrative, as provided by Canary. Unsurprisingly, the Labour Party, which has received hundreds of thousands of pounds in donations from the private healthcare industry, has gone against everything it campaigned on. From Starmer to Streeting to Reeves, the current cabinet is full of two-faced politicians who promise to strengthen the NHS while secretly doing the private sector's bidding.
- Tory narrative, as provided by The Telegraph. No matter how much money the left throws at the NHS, the British people are still choosing to switch to private care and pay the extra costs. The NHS, staffed with more nurses and doctors than ever before, remains slow and inefficient. To save the health system — as both parties genuinely desire — the government must stop with the rhetoric and begin mixing in private provisions.
