Nurses’ strike: Government must act to avoid “stalemate for foreseeable future”

Up to 100 000 nursing staff across the UK walked out in the first of two days of strike action on 15 December, after the government refused to budge on pay demands, arguing that it would mean “taking money away from frontline services.”The first strike day came after just under half of England’s NHS trusts (102 of 215) reached the 50% turnout threshold needed for strike action. All nursing staff in Northern Ireland and all but one of the health boards in Wales also met the threshold.1A second strike is planned for 20 December, which will be followed by a longer period of action if governments continue to refuse formal pay negotiations or if pay talks don’t result in a satisfactory outcome, said the Royal College of Nursing.The Fair Pay for Nursing campaign is calling for a pay increase that is 5% above inflation (measured by the retail price index…
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