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Nurses Across England Return to Strike. PHOTO/Reuters
LONDON – Nurses all around English start two days labor strike because a salary agreement was not reached with the government, Wednesday (18/1/2023). This action poses a new threat of disruption to patients in government-run healthcare.
The strike comes after nurses held their first union stop in more than a century, last month. The nurses joined a wave of industrial action by British public sector workers hit by a cost-of-living crisis driven by rising prices.
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The latest annual inflation statistics, released early Wednesday, showed they remained near historical record levels, with the rate declining slightly in December to 10.5 percent, compared with 10.7 percent the previous month.
The main nurses’ unions have accused the government of failing to seriously negotiate an increase in their salary deal for this year, which they say is critical given the economic situation.
“We are going on strike with a heavy heart but clear minds about what we want to achieve,” nurse Anna Swift said before joining the picket line in central London.
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“It’s time to take action to say we need better wages, we need better conditions,” he told Sky News.
The latest strike is adding further pressure on the National Health Service (NHS) at a time of peak demand due to winter illnesses and extended waiting lists for care caused by COIVD-19 cancellations and staff shortages.
Further strikes are planned for February 6 and 7 by the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) union, which said they would be “at the highest intensity” in its history.
