Around 300,000 members of the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) have ended their strike ballot and the votes will be revealed later this week.
The RCN had Civica Election Services to undertake the ballot and it was the employer who conducted the ballot instead of doing this at a national level.
RCN general secretary Pat Cullen said, “I want to thank members for taking the time to vote in this historic ballot.
“There has never been a more crucial time to fight for safe staffing and fair pay.
“Our NHS is on the precipice due to chronic staff shortages.
“Our profession is being pushed to the edge, with patient safety paying the price.
“None of us wants to take industrial action but we’ve been forced into this position after a decade of real-terms pay cuts.
“We can’t stand by and watch our colleagues and patients suffer anymore.
“Enough is enough.”
Nurses salary has decreased by 20% in real terms over the past 12 years and feel the government are “exploiting” them, the RCN are demanding a 5% pay rise above inflation.
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