The RCN is currently balloting its members until Wednesday 21 June on whether they would be willing to breach their employment contracts and go on strike after a recent pay offer from Manx Care was rejected. This would have seen staff receive an additional unconsolidated lump sum of £300 in addition to the 4 per cent consolidated pay award (already paid) for 2021/22 and, for 2022/23, staff were being offered a further 2 per cent consolidated pay increase, in addition to the 4 per cent pay award which was applied to October 2022 salaries. However, on Friday (26 May) Manx Care made a further formal offer which would see staff receive a £1,000 consolidated payment for the pay year 2022/2023 and is in addition to the 6% already awarded.
A paper went to the North West regional board and to the TU committee thereafter to agree the next steps formally and both parties agreed that members should have the opportunity to vote whether they accept or reject this offer. They will be asked to vote in an online pay consultation from 9am on 12 June to 5pm on 21 June.
The industrial action ballot is still underway as the RCN does not want any further delays for action should members vote to reject this latest offer. However, they have been advised that if both votes are positive, elected members would need to decide how to proceed in light of this.
Paul Wood, Operational Manager for the RCN in the North West, said: “We carefully considered what option was the best for our members. The results of a survey held earlier this year gave the RCN a clear mandate to act on their behalf and our members have waited a long time to be asked if they were willing to take strike action.
“However, upon receiving a further offer late in the day, we decided that the best course of action was to enable our members to be able to vote on strike action and their pay.”
