Nurses in England will strike for 48 hours straight at the start of next month, including in emergency departments and intensive care units for the first time, as unions vent their fury at the government’s refusal to negotiate a higher pay rise.
(Bloomberg) — Nurses in England will strike for 48 hours straight at the start of next month, including in emergency departments and intensive care units for the first time, as unions vent their fury at the government’s refusal to negotiate a higher pay rise.
The Royal College of Nursing said Thursday it would strike from 6 a.m. on March 1 to 6 a.m. on March 3 in an escalation of industrial action.
The National Health Service suffered its first strike by nurses on a national scale in the run up to Christmas, but until now the protests have been limited to 12-hour walkouts.
In December, nurses staged an historic strike across 44 NHS trusts. Protests expanded to 55 trusts in January and 73 trusts this month. The RCN said its industrial action would extend to 120 trusts in March.
The escalation adds to pressure on Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, whose administration is already grappling with unrest across the NHS, transport system and civil service.
“It is with a heavy heart that I have today asked even more nursing staff to join this dispute,” RCN General Secretary Pat Cullen said.
“At first, we asked thousands to keep working during the strikes but it is clear that is only prolonging the dispute.”
Strike payments to nurses will increase to £80 ($96) per day from £50. The RCN had £50 million in strike funds in August 2022, but has since taken six days of strike action.
Nurses were given a pay rise averaging between 4% and 5% for the current fiscal year. UK inflation has been in double digits for months and was recorded at 10.1% in January.
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