High Court judge rules next week’s Royal College of Nursing strike unlawful

Next week’s planned strikes by the Royal College of Nursing have been ruled unlawful by a High Court judge.

A High Court judge ruled today, Thursday, April 27, that the three-day strike planned by NHS nurses for next week is unlawful. As a result, the Royal College of Nursing will also have to pay £35,000 in legal costs.

Mr Justice Linden decided that their industrial action which was to run from Sunday 30 through to Tuesday, May 2, did not conform to the RCN’s mandate from November, according to thesun.co.uk.

He ruled the scheduled action extended beyond the time period of this agreement which was applicable only until Monday evening. Nurses will still strike but instead of Tuesday, they will terminate it on Monday night.

“It is the darkest day of this dispute so far – the government taking its own nurses through the courts in bitterness at their simple expectation of a better pay deal”, tweeted the RCN Press Office.

“It is the darkest day of this dispute so far – the government taking its own nurses through the courts in bitterness at their simple expectation of a better pay deal."@patcullen9 responds to today's High Court decision on strike action. https://t.co/3D0fLaZl1R

— RCN Press Office (@RCN_Press) April 27, 2023

Health Secretary Steve Barclay had threatened to take legal action against the RCN. “I firmly support the right to take industrial action within the law – but the Government could not stand by and let plainly unlawful strike action go ahead”, he commented.

Mr Barclay stressed: “Both the NHS and my team tried to resolve this without resorting to legal action, but unfortunately, following a request from NHS Employers, we took this step with regret to protect nurses by ensuring they are not asked to take part in an unlawful strike”.

“We welcome the decision of the High Court that the Royal College of Nursing’s planned strike on May 2 is illegal. The government wants to continue working constructively with the Royal College of Nursing, as was the case when we agreed the pay offer that was endorsed by their leadership”, he continued.

He added: “We now call on them to do the right thing by patients and agree derogations for their strike action on May 30 and April 1”.

In a statement, Pat Cullen, the RCN chief executive said: “The full weight of government gave ministers this victory over nursing staff. It is the darkest day of this dispute so far – the government taking its own nurses through the courts in bitterness at their simple expectation of a better pay deal.

“Nursing staff will be angered but not crushed by today’s interim order. It may even make them more determined to vote in next month’s re-ballot for a further six months of action. Nobody wants strikes until Christmas – we should be in the negotiating room, not the courtroom today.

“Our strike will now finish at midnight on the Monday as we have ensured safe and legal action at all times. The government has won their legal battle today. But what this has led to is they have lost nursing and they’ve lost the public. They’ve taken the most trusted profession through the courts, by the least trusted people”.

According to trust bosses, when this latest industrial action takes place, many hospitals could end up with only one nurse on duty in each ward. The RCN added that for the first time during its strike action, many critical care services will be left unmanned. This includes some intensive care units.