The Royal College of Midwives (RCM) in Northern Ireland has announced it will consult with its members on possible industrial action, following the continued failure to deliver pay parity for midwives and maternity support workers (MSWs).

Despite months of discussions with the Health Minister, Mike Nesbitt, and the Department of Health, alongside other unions, midwives and MSWs are still waiting for the fair and full 3.6% pay award they were promised, which colleagues in other parts of the UK have already received.

While some funding has been allocated towards the 2025/26 Agenda for Change pay award, the £100 million announced covers only around half of what is needed to restore full pay parity with colleagues in England and Wales.

Dr Dale Spence, RCM Director for Northern Ireland, said:

“Midwives and maternity support workers in Northern Ireland are fed up of empty promises. For far too long, we’ve been promised that our pay will be the same as maternity staff in the rest of the UK, yet we’re still waiting. Despite repeated assurances, there is still no firm commitment from the Minister or the Northern Ireland Executive to deliver full pay parity and enough is enough.

“Our members are frustrated and angry, which is why we’re consulting them on their appetite for taking industrial action. Our members deserve fairness and respect. Consulting for industrial action is something none of us, particularly those hardworking midwives and maternity support workers, wants, but the failure of the Executive has left us with no choice.”

The RCM has consistently urged swift action since the publication of the NHS Pay Review Body (PRB) recommendations in May this year. The RCM remains committed to working with the Health Minister, other health unions and members to navigate the road ahead and ensure that midwives and MSWs receive the pay awards which are long overdue.

“These broken promises don’t just affect pay packets they affect lives,” added Dr Spence. “Our members are working tirelessly under huge pressure and should be valued for the vital care they provide to women and families across Northern Ireland.

“It is unacceptable that we are back in this position again, calling on the Minister and Northern Ireland Executive to do the right thing and to keep their promise of pay parity. There’s a genuine risk that those staff will be looking elsewhere for work, or even leaving the profession as they feel so undervalued. That’s why the RCM is calling on the Health Minister and the Northern Ireland Executive to act now and restore full pay parity and give our midwives and MSWs the respect they surely deserve.”

ENDS

Notes to editors

• Repeated commitments to pay parity with England have been made to the Agenda for Change workforce in Northern Ireland.
• Maternity staff in England and Wales received their pay uplifts in August, backdated to April.
• In the 2024 Memorandum of Understanding between the Department of Health and Agenda for Change trade unions, the Department accepted the need for ongoing pay parity with England. In responding publicly to the recommendations of the Pay Review Body in May, the Health Minister stated that he intended to honour the pay parity agreements (https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c308760zr2go).
• Following industrial action by the workforce in 2019 and 2020, measures to restore pay parity with England were endorsed by the full NI Executive and pay parity was restored (https://www.health-ni.gov.uk/news/minister-announces-restoration-pay-parity).
• Health Trade Unions met with the Health Minister in June, where the Minister outlined the steps, he had taken to secure the funding required for a pay uplift. The Minister advised that the issue had passed to the Executive for its consideration given the budgetary position facing the health service. Health Trade Unions have since sought to engage with the First and Deputy First Ministers and Finance Minister to urge that the Executive move swiftly on the matter and avoid the unacceptable delays previously experienced in putting pay uplifts in place. We have been directed back to the Health Minister