LONDON, Feb 17 — Nurses in England announced Thursday that they would up the ante in their dispute with the government over low pay, walking out for two days with emergency medics joining in for the first time.
The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) announced strike action at more than 120 state-run health facilities for March 1, accusing the government of refusing to negotiate over pay and staffing levels.
The strike will run continuously for 48 hours, an escalation on previous walkouts that took place for only 12 hours during the day shift.
Nursing staff working in emergency departments, intensive care units and cancer care will also join in for the first time.
“These strikes will not just run for longer and involve more people but will leave no area of the NHS (National Health Service) unaffected,” said RCN general secretary Pat Cullen.
“By refusing to negotiate with nurses, the prime minister is pushing even more people into the strike.”
Health Secretary Steve Barclay warned that “failure to provide cover during strike action for key services like cancer care is a significant escalation... that will risk patient safety”.
Nurses and ambulance staff jointly walked out for the first time on February 6 in the largest strike ever at the NHS.
The walkouts are part of a wave of industrial action that has seen workers in a range of sectors from lawyers to dock workers take industrial action over the past year.
Health staff say wages have not kept pace with inflation over the past decade, and a cost-of-living crisis now has left them struggling to pay their bills.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has called for pay rises to be “reasonable” and “affordable”, warning that big pay awards would jeopardise his government’s attempts to tame inflation.
The disruption comes as the health service struggles to deal with a backlog caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.
In a separate announcement Thursday, Royal Mail workers voted overwhelmingly to continue with their own campaign of industrial action.
Members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport union (RMT) also announced that train staff would walk out again on March 16, 18 and 20 and on April 1, following a series of strikes over the winter that have frequently brought the network to a standstill. — AFP
