The government has confirmed it will take the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) to court over planned strike action next week, the RCN wrote on their website.
Earlier on Monday, Health Secretary Steve Barclay decided to back down from challenging the full two days of strike action but still asked the court to stop any strike action on 2 May.
Barclay is asking the high court in London to rule that part of the strike on 2 May is illegal because the RCN’s legal mandate to go on strike runs out at midnight on 1 May, according to The Guardian.
The RCN called for the strike – which is set to take place from 30 April to 2 May – earlier this month when its members rejected the government’s improved pay offer for 2022-23 and 2023-24 in a ballot.
The situation is “nakedly political” and “frightening for democracy”, RCN General Secretary and Chief Executive Pat Cullen said over the weekend.
“Tonight, the threat sadly became a reality,” Cullen wrote in an email to RCN members working for the NHS in England.
“It’s so wrong for the government to use taxpayers’ money to drag our profession through the courts. We’re determined to show that the nursing profession is strong and determined, and defend our members’ right to strike,” he added.
Later this week, the court will decide whether to support the government’s case and whether the RCN’s timetable of strike action will change.
(Sofia Stuart Leeson | EURACTIV.com)
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