Health workers plan fresh strike in UK

Ambulance staff and other health workers who are a part of Britain's Unison trade union have announced further strike action on March 8, after being cut out of pay talks between health minister and the Royal College of Nursing (RCN).

Unison said up to 32,000 of its members working in the NHS would stage a fresh day of strike action on March 8 as a “direct result of the government’s failure to hold proper pay talks with health unions.”

“NHS workers in five unions are involved in strike action over pay, staffing and patient care,” said Unison’s General Secretary, Christina McAnea. “Choosing to speak to one union and not others won’t stop the strikes and could make a bad situation much worse,” she added.

The RCN, which had been planning to escalate industrial action next week with a 48-hour walkout, put strike action on hold on Tuesday.

In a joint statement with the Health Ministry, the RCN announced that it had agreed to talks with ministers over pay and terms and conditions in England, adding it would suspend planned strike action while pay talks took place.

“We have just announced more strike dates in the NHS. The promise of talks alone won’t be enough for us to suspend these,” McAnea said on Twitter. 

The British Medical Association, whose junior doctor members are due to walk out for 72 hours next month, said it was “very disappointed” that British Health Minister, Steve Barclay, had not attended a meeting between the union and health department officials on Wednesday.

“There was no offer on the table and the department made it clear they are not ready to enter negotiations,” it said.

Downing Street on Wednesday declined to comment on details of the talks between Barclay and the RCN, adding that ministers wanted a deal that was “fair for all taxpayers”.

Previous talks with Barclay have included other unions involved in NHS strike action, including Unison but also Unite and the GMB.

The GMB, which represents more than 10,000 ambulance workers, also plans to press ahead with strikes already scheduled for March 6 and 20.

ME