At a later Cobra meeting, the government will address contingency preparations for upcoming strikes, including the use of the military and civil servants to cover Border Force staff.
The government has announced that the military will be deployed to hospital trusts in the event of an ambulance strike.
However, industrial action is still anticipated to create significant inconvenience.
Cobra is a committee for emergency response composed of ministers, civil workers, and others.
It follows a spate of pay-related strikes by nurses, paramedics, rail workers, and Border Force personnel this month.
Minister of the Cabinet Office Oliver Dowden, who will preside over the meeting on Monday, has asked unions to end the “destructive” strikes.
The unions’ attitude will disrupt the lives of millions of hardworking people in the coming weeks, he warned.
“The government will do everything possible to alleviate the effects of this action, but the only way to entirely end the disruption is for union leaders to return to the negotiating table and call off these disruptive strikes.
In the coming weeks, I will preside over a series of Cobra meetings to ensure that our plans are as solid as possible and that disruptions are kept to a minimum.
To assist their members in coping with rising prices, labor unions advocate for larger salary increases.
Downing Street has continued to emphasize the significance of the independent pay review boards, whose recommendations it adopted earlier this year regarding pay levels.
Additionally, No. 10 stated that the prime minister and chancellor do not wish to exacerbate inflation.
Home Office-employed Border Force officers are scheduled to strike at Gatwick, Heathrow, Manchester, Birmingham, and Cardiff airports from December 23 to December 31.
Members of The Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS), who represent 75% of all passport control staff, decided to take action in favor of a 10% salary increase, which they claim will assist border workers “struggling with the cost of living problem.”
To minimize massive travel disruptions over Christmas, some military members are already being trained as part of contingency plans.
While the military will be sent to hospital trusts to familiarise themselves with vehicles ahead of a strike by ambulance workers on 21 December, the military will also be deployed to hospitals in preparation for the strike.
In a disagreement over pay, the three major ambulance unions, Unison, GMB, and Unite, will organize coordinated strike action by paramedics and control center workers. Only non-life-threatening calls will be affected.
Additionally, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has previously committed to enacting “new stringent” anti-strike legislation.
However, some unions have suggested that governments should meet with them and negotiate pay, noting that wage offers are insufficient to keep up with the rising cost of living.
Pat Cullen, the head of the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) union, said this week’s scheduled strikes might be averted if the health secretary negotiates “seriously” overcompensation.
Health Secretary Steve Barclay stated that he was “quite happy to talk” with nurses’ unions, but that it was “essential that all parties respect” the pay offer provided to NHS employees.
“We have communicated with them and will continue to do so,” he said, adding that the government had “fully honored” the independent pay review body’s recommendation.
He stated that he did not wish to divert funds from clearing the post-Covid backlog to fund more compensation.
The nurses’ union has requested that its members receive a pay increase of 5% over the RPI inflation rate for October, which was 14.2%.
Wes Streeting, the shadow health minister, stated that a Labour government would be unable to finance such an increase, but that it “would be happy to meet and negotiate” to prevent a strike.
“I believe the government’s stubborn refusal to engage in genuine discussions demonstrates that they are spoiling for a fight, and they want to blame nurses, paramedics, and NHS employees for difficulties in NHS services that are the direct result of 12 years of Conservative mismanagement,” he said.
Frankly, I find that repulsive.
Sara Gorton, head of health at Unison, stated: “The salary increase offered to health care employees this year has just not been sufficient to stem the exodus of personnel. Patients will continue to wait too long for ambulances and treatment to begin if the NHS does not hire enough staff.
“Instead of preparing for the strike days, ministers should focus their efforts on resolving the disagreements,” she continued.
