Nurses' strike

NHS braces for prolonged period of industrial action by health workers over the winter and into next year.

Nurses and other NHS workers had been forced to rely on food banks “because they are desperate after more than a decade of real-terms pay cuts under the Conservatives”. The minister also said nurses would be wasting their time by striking. In contrast, nurses at hospitals run by the city’s Manchester University acute trust did not vote to strike, but those at three other trusts in Greater Manchester did. That would increase the pay of a newly qualified nurse by about 8%, but the union said it still meant a real-terms cut for a large majority of nurses. The RCN has not said when the first strike will happen. They have been pressing for increases that at least match inflation, while the RCN has been seeking a rise of 5% above inflation. Ministers in Edinburgh then proposed a revised flat-rate increase of £2,200 per head. Services will have to be scaled back at many UK hospitals where nurses voted to strike. However, the The Public and Commercial Services union is due to announce on Thursday if civil servants will be joining the growing wave of action. Sources at the Department of Our members are saying enough is enough,” said Pat Cullen, the union’s general secretary and chief executive.