A ballot of nurses who are members of the Royal College of Nursing closed at 9am this morning.
Now, the result of the vote has been announced.
It has been confirmed that RCN members have voted to reject the government’s pay offer, and a fresh wave of strikes has been announced.
It comes despite union leaders recommending that members voted to accept it.
A total of 54% of RCN members who voted chose to reject the offer, while 46% voted to accept it.
Turnout in the ballot was 61% of eligible members.
The development will come as a blow to the government, which will have hoped a settlement with nurses would have paved the way for breakthroughs in other sectors gripped by industrial action.
Instead, the RCN has announced a 48-hour strike from 8pm on 30 April to 8pm on 2 May.
For the first time, the strike will involve NHS staff previously exempt, including nursing staff working in emergency departments, intensive care units, cancer care, and more.
This wave of action is within the RCN’s current mandate to strike, which expires in early May.
However, the union has confirmed it will be re-balloting members to extend the scope and duration of the mandate.
There is now the prospect of a summer of widespread strikes after teachers also voted to reject the government’s offer and junior doctors continue to strike in an increasingly bitter struggle over pay.
In a letter to health secretary Steve Barclay, RCN general secretary and chief executive Pat Cullen said: “Until there is a significantly improved offer, we are forced back to the picket line.
“Meetings alone are not sufficient to prevent strike action, and I will require an improved offer as soon as possible.”
The pay deal rejected by RCN members would have seen nurses and paramedics awarded a one-off payment of 2% of their salary, plus a COVID recovery bonus of 4% for the current financial year and 5% for the year after.
Steve Barclay, the health secretary, previously explained that, under the offer, a newly qualified nurse would have received more than £1,800 this year on top of a pay rise of more than £1,300 next year.
Although the RCN rejection is a blow to the government, it does not necessarily mean the pay deal is finished.
As we reported earlier (see 09.50 post), the pay offer covers other NHS workers represented by other unions.
UNISON workers have voted to accept the result, and other unions are still balloting members.
Those results have yet to come in, but it could be that complicated negotiations between multiple unions will have to take place to agree a collective position.