Joel James MS has welcomed representatives from the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) Wales in the
Senedd to discuss ongoing pay disputes and the impact of the Welsh Government’s Social Partnership
and Procurement Bill.
RCN representatives expressed their frustration at the Welsh Government and their reluctance to seek
a resolution, and were concerned that the Welsh Government is continually place the blame at the
feet of the UK Government in Westminster, even though health has been devolved in Wales since
1999. The RCN revealed that the Welsh Government has offered a one-off payment which has been
rejected and also gave warning of more strike days to come.
The Governments proposed Social Partnership and Procurement Bill that is currently going through
the committee stage, and has been flagged by RCN as potentially having a negative impact due to the
dominance of the Trade Union Congress (TUC). They are concerned that voices of non-affiliated bodies
such as themselves and the British Medical Association (BMA) are likely to be excluded.
Speaking after the meeting Joel said:
“I was really grateful to meet with representatives of the Royal College of Nursing Wales today in
the Welsh Parliament, where we discussed a range of issues. We had a very constructive meeting
and agreed that the Welsh Government need to take negotiations seriously to end strike action”.
“I’m also glad the RCN took the time to express the concerns the nursing profession has regarding
the Social Partnership Bill to me and these concerns will be considered as the Bill progresses”.