More than 300,000 members of Britain’s largest nurses’ union will vote to strike on Thursday demanding higher wages to keep up with rising inflation in what will be the biggest vote in its 106-year history.

The Royal Institute of Nursing, the country’s largest nursing union, announced that it was forced to take the measure after a fall in the actual cost of wages prevented people from joining the publicly funded National Health Authority, leading to a huge shortage of staff across departments and agencies. specialties.

“We’re understaffed, underestimated and underpaid,” says Pat Cullen, general secretary and chief executive of the nurses’ union. “Our profession has been on the brink for years, and now the price is coming at the expense of patient safety.” “

The union has indicated that it is demanding a wage increase of 5% above the rate of inflation to overcome the decline in the actual cost of wages as its members find it difficult to cope with the high cost of living.