NMC clarifies 'threatening' statement on strikes
Posted: 10 October 2011 by Rob Dabrowski
The NMC has clarified its position on pension strikes after it came under fire for a ‘threatening and heavy handed’ statement.
Professor Dickon Weir-Hughes, chief executive of the NMC, has now confirmed that midwives can take industrial action without breaching the nursing code of conduct.
The clarification comes after last week the NMC said midwives and nurses should ‘consider very carefully’ the impact of any action and added that if the standards code is broken, they could lose their registration.
The statement was greeted with anger from unions who criticised its release at a time when most midwives and nurses were not even considering industrial action.
The new statement says: ‘We recognise that many nurses and midwives are members of trade unions and respect their democratic right to express support for their trade unions and to lobby on a wide range of issues.
‘This does of course include their right to support and take part in strike action.
‘The NMC respects those rights and wishes to confirm this in response to questions from Unison as to its position.’
The statement says the NMC ‘naturally’ has concerns about the impact of industrial action on patients.
But it recognises it is primarily the responsibility of employers to ensure adequate cover is in place in the event of lawful industrial action.
It continues: ‘The code does not prohibit nurses and midwives from taking part in lawful industrial action but they remain, as regulated professionals, subject to their professional obligations under the code.’
Unison has welcomed the clarification and said it will be ‘seeking answers’ from the NMC about its previous ‘heavy handed and threatening statement’.
The RCM is not currently balloting its members on industrial action but has not ruled out strikes taking place in the future.
General secretary Cathy Warwick previously said midwives cannot be expected to continue ‘in the face of threats to their pay and pensions’ and not take any action at all.
The RCM has also commissioned an independent survey into members’ views on pensions, the results of which will be released at the RCM conference on mid-November.
