Pay talks need to start in double figures, nursing union leader says

Royal College of Nursing (RCN) leader Pat Cullen has called on health secretary Steve Barclay pay negotiations to start with a proposed rise in double figures as members are set to ballot for strike action on 23 May.

The new ballot comes after an existing six-month mandate ran out at the start of the month.

“They [ministers] owe that to nursing staff not to push them to have to do another six months of industrial action right up to Christmas,” the union’s general secretary said.

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