Too soon to climb the barricades

Not only do 92% of the membership who completed the ballot reject the deal but nine out of 10 of them are willing to take industrial action.

The gulf between the nurses and their employing body has, if anything, widened since Policy & Resources adjusted its offer by offering more to junior ranks than line managers.

The open hostility generated by a pay offer that many island employees would consider generous is indicative of scars built up over many years. The RCN says that such long-term bitterness has recently been compounded by the States’ failure to engage in timely and meaningful talks.

Nurses have been undervalued and exploited for too long and it is time to redress the balance. That is not a problem unique to Guernsey but the island can solve only its own issues.

Thousands made it obvious that they want something done when they marched in solidarity through Town in September.

And the presidents of Health & Social Care and Employment & Social Security have made clear their agreement and are seeking to force the point with an amendment to the Budget that gives a definitive commitment by the States to ‘fair and equal pay within the public sector’.

Nurses should not take such public and political support for granted. Without resorting to industrial action it is already putting P&R, as the employing body, under considerable pressure.

Turning towards the barricades at this stage would be risky.

The union seems to half-recognise that. ‘Striking is not something we would consider lightly, but by continually ignoring us the States have left us with no option.’

Yet there is an option.

The review process for fairness in public pay might prove to be frustratingly slow but a protracted series of strikes will be painful for both nurses and their patients.

Building on the public and political momentum already gained is a surer and safer way of getting the pay parity that nurses deserve.