Nurses in England stage new walk-out over pay

LONDON (AFP) - Nurses across England began two days of strikes over pay on Wednesday, threatening fresh disruption for patients in the creaking state-run health service, as new figures showed inflation still surging.

The walkout comes after nurses held their union's first stoppage in more than a century last month, joining a wave of industrial action by UK public sector workers hit by a cost-of-living crisis driven by spiralling prices.

The latest annual inflation statistics, released early Wednesday, showed they remained close to record highs, with rates easing slightly in December to 10.5 percent, compared with 10.7 percent the previous month. The main nursing union accuses the government of failing to negotiate seriously on improving their pay deal for the current year, which they say is crucial given the economic situation.

"We don't want to do this. This is the last thing we want to do because... we're caring people," mental health support worker Steven Bedford said from a picket line outside a south London hospital. "We know A&E (Accident and Emergency) is probably struggling today. But we have to make a point. We have to make a stand at some point and hopefully something can happen."

The latest walkout piles further pressure on the National Health Service (NHS) at a time of peak demand due to winter illnesses and lengthening waiting lists for treatment caused by Covid cancellations and under-staffing.

'Unaffordable' 

Further strikes are planned for February 6 and 7 by the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) union, which has said they will "be at the highest intensity" in its history. Conservative Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has insisted recession-hit Britain cannot afford to reopen public sector pay already set for this fiscal year, which ends on March 31.

He has hinted at the possibility of more flexibility in agreeing upcoming salary deals, handled by pay review bodies whose independence from government has been questioned. "Unaffordable pay hikes will mean cutting patient care and stoking the inflation that would make us all poorer," health minister Steve Barclay wrote in The Independent on Wednesday.

He added that salary increases would "take billions of pounds away from where we need it most". Two days of strikes by nurses in England and Wales in December led to the cancellation of some 30,000 elective procedures and outpatient appointments, according to Barclay.

But Pat Cullen, head of the RCN, said nurses are "the voice of the patient" and has repeatedly urged the government to negotiate over pay to retain beleaguered staff and attract new recruits. "Let's all get into a room and sit down and have realistic conversations about how we're going to address the crisis within the health service," she told ITV.

'Crisis' 

This week's walkout could cause 4,500 cancelled operations and 25,000 cancelled outpatient appointments, the NHS estimates. Despite the disruption, the nurses' plight has prompted public sympathy amid broad discontent over the government's management of the NHS.

A YouGov poll published on Tuesday suggested 63 percent supported their strike."We go to work every day as nurses and we do our best, and our best isn't enough right now, and that's because our workload keeps increasing and our resources aren't matching that," A&E nurse Orla Dooley, 29, told AFP.

"If I was to retrain today I wouldn't be a nurse. It's something I used to love, and that's really sad." Parul, a 56-year-old senior nurse who declined to give her last name, added she has "never faced this much crisis" in her 27-year NHS career.

In response to the months-long waves of strikes, Sunak has introduced a draft law requiring some frontline workers to maintain a minimum level of service during walkouts. MPs gave their initial backing Monday to the controversial legislation, which has prompted fury from unions.

"The government has gone from clapping NHS workers during the pandemic, to ignoring them, insulting them, and now threatening them with the sack if they fight for decent pay," Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said Wednesday.

Sunak defended the plans in parliament, calling them "reasonable" and in line with other European countries. Unite and another union representing ambulance workers are set to announce further strikes, after drivers and paramedics held their second walkout in two months over pay and conditions.