The Royal College of Nursing declared that nurses would go on strike on January 18 and 19, with further dates to be announced in the new year.
In a disagreement over wages, thousands of nurses in England will go on strike again next month.
The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) declared that nurses would go on strike on January 18 and 19, with further dates to be announced in the new year.
Pat Cullen, the chairman of the union, stated, “The government had the opportunity to end this dispute before the holidays, but instead they have chosen to force nursing personnel back into the cold in January.”
She continued, “I do not want to prolong this dispute, but the prime minister has left us with no other option.
Other strike-related news:
• Elizabeth Line workers plan a 24-hour strike from January 12 to January 13; the threat of a further Heathrow ground handling strike has passed as workers accept an offer; the next scheduled ambulance strike on December 28 has been canceled;
This month, a separate strike affecting the NHS has been canceled.
The GMB announced that the planned walkout of ambulance employees on December 28 has been canceled.
Shortly before the RCN statement, the prime minister, Rishi Sunak, stated that he was “sad and saddened” that strikes threaten to interrupt Christmas vacations.
Hundreds of thousands of workers in numerous sectors of the economy have gone on strike or are intending to do so this winter as unions seek pay raises for their members amid a cost of living crisis and high inflation.
The RCN stated that next month’s walkouts will only occur in England if the strike must be prolonged.
On the 15th and 20th of December, RCN members in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland staged their largest-ever walkouts.
In half of the locations in England where the legal mandate for strikes was established in November, nurses and other nursing workers walked out.
There were also strikes at all but one NHS employer in Wales and across Northern Ireland.
Strike action is “the correct thing to do for patients and the NHS,” according to the union.
Ms. Cullen described the public’s support as “heartwarming” and stated that she is “more confident than ever” that additional strike action is “the correct thing to do for patients and the survival of the NHS.”
“The nursing profession will not be neglected. Unsafe patient care results from staff shortages and inadequate compensation; the sooner ministers get to the negotiation table, the sooner this issue may be rectified. “I will not dig if they do not dig,” she declared.
The RCN had predicted that the number of affected NHS employers will increase next month if negotiations were not held.
The RCN members “overwhelmingly” rejected the latest pay offer from the Scottish government, prompting nurses in Scotland to announce they will go on strike early in 2023.
The secretary of health asks unions to reconsider
Steve Barclay, secretary of the for health and social care, expressed “disappointment” at the potential of coordinated strikes in January that would “create maximum disruption at a time when the NHS is already under extraordinary strain.
Ambulance personnel on picket lines have raised concerns about working conditions and handover times, therefore it is crucial to use this additional time to continue discussing how we can make the NHS a better workplace.
However, unions’ exorbitant wage demands would divert funds from frontline services and cause more delays in care.
He asked unions to postpone additional industrial action, describing strikes as “in no one’s best interest.”
20% worse off in real terms for nurses
The RCN stated that despite this year’s pay increase of £1,400, experienced nurses were 20% worse off in actual terms as a result of consecutive awards below inflation since 2010.
It has demanded a 5% wage increase above RPI inflation, arguing that the economic case for paying nursing staff appropriately is evident when billions of pounds are spent on agency workers to fill staffing gaps.
The RCN reports that 25,000 nursing professionals departed the Nursing and Midwifery Council register in the United Kingdom in the past year, with 47,000 empty registered nurse positions in England’s NHS alone.
The labor organization stated that industrial action is a last resort, adding that it is committed to negotiating better pay accords with governments before resorting to strike action if the disagreement cannot be resolved.
