• 82% of Scottish nurses rejected the latest salary offer.
• RCN Scotland members are preparing to strike at the beginning of 2023.
• Holyrood must avert a strike when the union sets strike dates early next year.

Nurses in Scotland are preparing to strike at the beginning of 2023 ,after the Royal College of Nursing’s members “overwhelmingly” rejected the most recent pay offer from the Scottish government.

82% of people who participated in the consultative vote, which ended at noon on Monday, rejected the Holyrood ministers’ “best and last” offer.

The decision may result in RCN Scotland members participating in strikes for the first time ever.

The union stated that it will set strike dates early in the new year and that “the onus is on the Scottish government” to prevent one.
Following discussions with the government, the agreement provided wage raises from £2,205 to £2,751.

NHS employees would have earned an average raise of 7.5%, with the lowest-paid employees seeing an increase of 11.3%.

According to ministers, the deal ensured that Scottish NHS employees will continue to earn the highest wages in the UK.

RCN Scotland board chair Julie Lamberth argued that it was “the appropriate thing” to ask members whether they wanted to accept or reject the offer.

“It directly affects their life, and every eligible member has to be given the opportunity to voice their opinions,” she continued.

“The result could not be clearer – we have forcefully rejected what the Scottish government said is its ‘best and final’ offer.

“Make no mistake – we do not want to go on strike. Years of being undervalued and understaffed have left us feeling we have been left with no option because enough is enough.

“The ball is in the Scottish government’s court if strike action is going to be avoided.”

Nearly two thirds (65%) of members of the Royal College of Midwives said they had rejected the offer, which they claimed would leave many midwives “really worse off in real terms.”

Although it has been approved by employees in Unite and Unison, it has also been rejected by GMB union staff.

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