Picture the scene: Abba’s Dancing Queen hits the number one spot and is the song of the moment, and the first Inter City 125 high speed trains have just begun their service with a return from Bristol to London – costing just £5. 

The summer of 1976 brought the warmest and driest heatwave of the 20th century. Meanwhile, Jayaben Desai led a strike of mainly Asian women at the Grunwick factory, which led to mass pickets. 

Workplace industrial relations in the NHS had also been choppy. Just two years earlier, the RCM had taken a decision not to join other health unions in strike action. Members criticised this decision, describing College officers as “old fashioned, too ladylike and more concerned with speaking good English and wearing flowery hats than they were with getting good salaries and better conditions for midwives”. 

Fast forward two years to 1976, and on 11 October, 890 members of the Royal College of Midwives gathered in Central Hall Westminster to decide the future direction of the organisation. 

They met following the implementation of the Trade Union and Labour Relations Act, which required organisations wishing to operate with the legal status of a trade union to register with the new Certification Officer. 

An overwhelming 886 out of 890 members voted in favour, charting the path of the RCM as we know it today. The significance of that decision for the midwives, MSWs and student midwives should not be underestimated. 

The RCM’s dual role as both a professional association and a trade union gives us the power to make a difference at work for our members both locally and nationally, through trade union recognition and bargaining structures – something other medical Royal Colleges don’t have and are rightly envious of! 

And over the last 50 years RCM members have used the power of their trade union voice to make change, both individually for its members and collectively for the wider workforce. Just a few examples include:  

• 1979: The RCM raised the lack of occupational health services for NHS staff with the Royal Commission resulting in the introduction of NHS occupational health services 

• 1979: The RCM achieved improved career structures for midwives following its evidence to the Royal Commission 

• 1988: The NHS introduced a new clinical grading structure which the RCM argued undervalued midwives. 

• 1996: Regional Officer role introduced. 

• 2004: RCM influenced new AFC terms and Conditions. 

• 2013: Student Midwife Forum created. 

• 2014: The RCM took industrial action following the Government refusing to accept the Pay Review Body’s recommended 1% pay rise. The RCM achieved a nearly 50% turnout which exceeded the turnout of the other trade unions. The outcome was successful. Midwives strike for first time in 133 years. 

• 2015: The RCM joined the TUC – the first Royal College to be a member of the TUC.  

• 2023: RCM Scotland negotiated for the ministerial nursing and midwifery taskforce when midwives voted against accepting the 2023 pay offer in Scotland. 

• 2024: A pay offer was secured, providing 5% pay uplift backdated to April 2023, a £1,505 non-consolidated payment and an increase in on-call allowance. 

• 2025: RCM raises awareness of Entonox risks and pressed employers to act. 

• 2026: RCM members in Barnsley stand together to fight off a threat of fire and rehire. 

• 2026: South Tyneside and Sunderland local industrial action mandate achieved as members stand together against the imposition of an unfair acute on call rota. 

• 2026: The RCM helps more than 80 of its members in Basildon – who were exposed to dangerous levels of Entonox – secure compensation in the largest group legal action ever brought by midwives in the UK. 

The RCM’s place in the wider trade union movement has also meant our members have had a voice in making wider employment and social changes. 

From the introduction of rights for safety reps to the new right to bereavement leave – our voices have been part of making change happen for working people.  

Day in and day out, the RCM continues to fight for our members, pushing for staff staffing, safe workplaces and safe services and recognising – as both a professional association and a trade union – the inextricable link between all three.  

Looking back on this 50th anniversary allows us a change to celebrate what we have achieved, and to commit to the challenges ahead. 

So here’s to many more years of a strong RCM by your side! 

​​Bibliography 

​​Cowell, B., & Wainwright, D. (1981). Behind the blue door – the history of the Royal College of Midwives 1881-1981. London: Bailliere Tindall.