UK nurses stage new walkout over pay
London (AFP) – UK nurses on Tuesday stage a second unprecedented strike amid an increasingly acrimonious fight with the government for better wages and warnings that patient safety could be jeopardised.
Up to 100,000 members of the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) in England, Wales and Northern Ireland are holding the latest one-day stoppage after walking out last Thursday for the first time in the union s 106-year history.
They are demanding an inflation-busting pay increase to make up for years of real-terms salary cuts, but the government insists recession-hit Britain cannot afford anything above a roughly 4-5 percent rise.
The striking nurses are just one of numerous UK public and private sector workers taking industrial action over pay and working conditions, as they grapple with a cost-of-living crisis worsened by decades-high inflation.
The UK consumer prices index is currently running at nearly 11 percent.
Ambulance workers, including paramedics and call handlers, are set to strike on Wednesday.
A second such walkout is scheduled for December 28, while others, including postal, railway and Border Force staff are staging stoppages over the Christmas period.
Entrenched
The RCN has criticised Prime Minister Rishi Sunak s government for refusing to discuss pay as part of stalled negotiations to end the dispute, and warned the strikes could be repeated in the coming months.
