Royal College of Nursing (RCN) members on the Isle of Man have voted to accept the latest pay offer from employer Manx Care.
The RCN, which is the Isle of Man’s largest nursing trade union, surveyed its members from midday on Monday 13 November to 12 noon on Monday 27 November 2023.
Of those eligible to vote, 71% of members chose to accept the revised pay offer, with 29% voting to reject. The turnout was 50%.
The dispute led to two days of strike action by nurses on the island earlier this year, but a further offer from Manx Care was subsequently received, offering a consolidated increase of £1,500 to each pay point, with effect from 1 April 2022, in addition to the 6% increase already implemented.
Manx Care also confirmed that the previous offer on which RCN members were surveyed in October had been withdrawn as the employer required the whole of staff side to agree for the award to be applied. As agreement could not be reached, the result of the previous survey was therefore void.
Nurses were due to take two back-to-back days of strike action in October, but the action was paused while members had their say over this new formal offer.
This sees a total offer of 12.75% over two years.
The RCN union had repeatedly insisted that if this latest offer is declined by its members it would've bene returning to the picket line to strike for a better deal.
This now won't be happening.
Estephanie Dunn, Regional Director for the RCN in the North West, said: 'We are pleased that this long standing dispute has finally reached a conclusion.
'However, I am saddened that our members had to resort to strike action to reach this point.
'It now feels like an unnecessary disruption to what is already a very strained service, when this could have been resolved much more simply.
'Our members deserve to be valued for the highly complex skills they possess and for the work they do to uphold the health service and we stand by their decision to take the action they did.
'There is no doubt that our strike action prompted Manx Care to open talks.'