30.10.14
NHS staff in England name the date for second week of industrial action
NHS workers across England are set to strike for the second time is as many months in a continuing dispute over pay.
Members of Unite, Unison and the Royal College of Midwives will walk out for four hours on Monday 24 November, followed by working to rule for the rest of the week. Members of the union include nurses, midwives, occupational therapists, porters, paramedics, medical secretaries, cooks and healthcare assistants.
The action is being taken over the Department of Health’s refusal to institute a 1% pay rise recommended by the Pay Review Body.
The plan is a repeat of the action taken on the week of 13 October. During that strike, hospital clinics had to be postponed, antenatal classes were cancelled and operations had to be called off due to a lack of staff.
Ambulance services were perhaps the worst hit: patients with broken bones or breathing difficulties were told to make their own way to hospital or visit their GP as there were only enough paramedics to deal with the most serious cases.
As NHE reported, after the last set of industrial action the unions threatened more if the government refused to agree to the pay rise and now they are following through.
Cathy Warwick, chief executive of the Royal College of Midwives, said today: “Our action in October was very effective in showing the level of discontent amongst midwives and that the goodwill that midwives gives to the NHS every day is worth far more than the 1% pay increase. Announcing these further dates of action shows that we are determined that enough is enough, NHS staff deserve fair pay.
“Our members have suffered three years of pay restraint and face the prospect that their pay in 2016 will only be 1% higher than it was in 2010.The recommendations from all public sector pay review bodies have been followed except those for health workers. This is not acceptable. There is still time to come back to the negotiating table and to take a more reasonable position on the PRB recommendation.
“Last time the RCM worked very hard to meet with employers to discuss our action and to ensure that mothers and babies were not put at any risk; we will do exactly the same for the action in November. I want to reassure women expecting a baby that midwives will continue to look after them and that they will be safe. ”
A Department of Health spokesperson said: “NHS staff are our greatest asset and we know they are working extremely hard. This is why despite tough financial times, we've protected the NHS budget and now have 13,500 more clinical staff than in 2010. We want to protect these increases and cannot afford incremental pay increases – which disproportionately reward the highest earners – on top of a general pay rise without risking frontline NHS jobs.”
(Image: NHS strike at Liverpool Womens Hospital c. Peter Byrne/PA Wire)
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