Tens of thousands of members of the Royal College of Nursing walked out on strike Monday in a dispute over pay but the action was cut short after the government won an injunction in the High Court in London (pictured) on Thursday, ruling that continuing the strike into a second planned day would be illegal. Photo by Andy Rain/EPA-EFE
May 1 (UPI) — Tens of thousands of National Health Service nurses In England were out on strike Monday in a long-running dispute over pay and staffing including, for the first time, those working in emergency rooms, intensive care and cancer departments.
The action by the 500,000-strong Royal College of Nursing, affecting two-thirds of the country’s 219 NHS Trusts that between them operate over a thousand hospitals, comes after members voted to reject a 5% pay offer from the government earlier this month, the RCN said in a news release.
The RCN said the majority strike ballot called for the urgent re-opening of pay talks that broke down in March and that there would be no national “derogations.” That means walk-outs by nursing staff working in ER, ICU and other services that were previously exempt from strike action, its “biggest and most intensive” since the dispute began six months ago.
In practice, however, the union had agreed to “the majority if not all of the exemptions requested” for some critical care nurses to remain at their posts, according to RCN General Secretary Pat Cullen.
“The government wants to bring NHS strike action to a close this coming week but with several big unions — and nursing as the largest part of the NHS workforce — still in dispute, it has to do better,” Cullen said.
“Only negotiations can resolve this and I urge ministers to reopen formal discussions with the College over pay specifically.
“Nursing staff are looking for a fair settlement that shows the government values and understands their profession. We appear a long way from that currently but I remind ministers it is entirely in their gift,” added Cullen.
Health Secretary Steve Barclay said the strikes would put “more pressure on the NHS and will be incredibly disruptive for patients”.
The strike comes ahead of talks Tuesday between health ministers, NHS employers and other unions about a 5% pay offer the government has on the table, which some unions have already accepted.
Originally a two-day strike, the action will now end at midnight Monday local time after the government won an injunction last week blocking the second day after a court ruled the union’s strike mandate from its members expires at midnight Monday.
Pledging to fight on, the RCN said it would re-ballot its members in the middle of May for a fresh mandate to conduct strikes for a further six months.
The union’s membership in Scotland voted to accept an average 6.5% pay offer plus a one-off payment of up to $1,175 from the Scottish Government in March.
