UK: Nurses strike for first time in over 100 years to demand pay rise

British nurses went on an unprecedented strike Thursday to demand better pay. The move takes place in the face of the cost of living crisis that is causing growing social discontent in the UK.

Up to 100,000 members of the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) union in England, Wales and Northern Ireland will not work from 8am to 8pm. This is the first national strike in the organization’s 106-year history, followed by another strike day on December 20.

Protesters gathered outside St Thomas’ Hospital in central London this morning. The category is seeking a salary increase of just over 19% to compensate for the years without salary adjustments. The claim is considered “inadmissible” by the government.

“We didn’t make the easy decision to go on strike,” said Ameera, a London nurse who joined the campaign. “We’re tired. We’re fed up. We need a pay raise to survive,” she added.

Emergency nurse Mark Boothroyd says the high cost of living makes it difficult to pay bills, transportation and rent. An employee at St Thomas’ Hospital says low wages mean recent graduates only work in the field for a year or two before leaving the profession.

Failure to fill these gaps increases the pressure on other employees. Many face psychological problems due to stress. Boothroyd protests that conditions are “terrible and cannot continue”.

According to the RCN, there are 47,000 nursing positions in the UK partly due to “low pay”. Many nurses and nurses from other countries in Europe left the UK after Brexit.

Food banks for nurses

British public health officials said in September some nurses began skipping meals to feed and clothe their children. One in four UK hospitals has set up food banks for staff.

RCN discloses that category fees have fallen by 20% in real terms since 2010 as a result of several years of under-inflation adjustments. Despite a slowdown this year, from 11.1% in October to 10.7% in November, UK inflation remains at its highest level in four decades.

The strike came as England’s National Health Service (NHS) survived on funding, which for several years had deemed insufficient. Since the Covid-19 pandemic, queues for medical examinations, including those related to cancer, have been increasing.

Health officials have warned unions that treatments could be affected by the strike, as seasonal respiratory infections like the flu put pressure on already overcrowded hospitals.

wave of dissatisfaction

The RCN strike, though unprecedented, is the latest in a growing wave of strikes in the public and private sectors, from rail transport to customs officers, paramedics and teachers.

But the government of Conservative Prime Minister Rishi Sunak claims that nurses’ salary demands, which are calling for the recovery of purchasing power, cannot be financed by the public coffers stricken by the epidemic.

“Our nurses are incredibly dedicated to their work and it is regrettable that some members of the union continue to strike,” said Steve Barclay, UK Health Secretary.

The minister said he was “concerned about the risk the strikes pose to patients,” after insisting he was negotiating “with health professionals outside the public sector to ensure safe levels of staff.”

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