Nurses vote for national strike
Officials at Britain’s main nurses’ union told reporters on Sunday morning that a nationwide strike was expected in the coming weeks.
Britons took to the streets on Saturday against low wages and the privatization of the health sector.
AFP
UK nurses have voted to strike in their first nationwide mobilization over a pay dispute, as quoted by British news agency PA on Sunday.
“Our strike is as much about patients as it is about nurses, who support our cause,” Royal College of Nursing (RCN) union secretary Pat Cullen said. Counting is still ongoing but RCN officials believe enough members have voted for a mobilization this winter, according to the PA.
This should happen in the coming weeks, possibly before Christmas, according to the same source. The union is demanding a 5% wage hike above inflation. More than 300,000 RCN members took part in the referendum, the largest in the union’s 106-year history. The exact nature of the strike has yet to be determined, but patients already facing registration waiting lists could face disruption to operations and appointments. “Most services will be cut and there will be a nationwide strike,” a union source told the Observer newspaper.
Registration number of vacancies
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt are already facing a £50bn hole in the public purse. Union activity in recent months has been linked to a backdrop of inflation. Tens of thousands of workers from various sectors – from the post office to legal organizations to telecommunications – have been on strike across Britain since this summer.
Over 25,000 UK nurses registered vacancies in nursing jobs from the Nursing and Midwifery Council’s (the body that counts them) register in the last twelve months. A recent analysis shows that experienced nurse salaries have fallen by 20% in real terms since 2010.
AFP
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